Sussex Jewish News
Sussex Jewish News was conceived on a coach trip to the synagogue in Portsmouth in September 1993. Arnold Lewis z’l and Doris Levinson learned that Irene Noah, who had been producing a magazine called Jewish Life with her husband for some years, had decided to give it up because of ill health. As members of the Representative Council, Arnold and Doris felt that the essence of the magazine – the Communal Diary, so lovingly and carefully produced every month by Pauline Fifer z’l – should continue to be available for members of the Jewish community in Brighton and Hove. Read more...
The very first issue of Sussex Jewish News came out in October 1993 and consisted of a letter from Herzl Sless z’l, the then President of the Brighton & Hove Jewish Representative Council, with the Communal Diary on the reverse. It was sent out to members of synagogues and organisations asking for membership of £5.00 and a request for articles and advertisements. It was hand-typed and photocopied (no electronic equipment in sight at the time) and stuffed into envelopes and posted out to arrive on people’s doorsteps on the first day of every month.
And so it has continued – arriving on the doorsteps on the first day (or as near to the first day) of every month (except for a combined 2-month New Year issue). The price has of course had to be increased, due to printing and postage costs, but it is still very affordable and fantastic value for money, as well as being a lifeline for many members of the community, especially those who do not have computers or are housebound.
After a few months, Steven Morris very kindly offered to produce the information on his computer in his back room, often working until 2.00 am. Gradually, advertisements and more copy arrived, and the magazine grew to four, then eight and even twelve pages – still in black and white and still being photocopied, collated by hand before being sent out.
In November 1996, Hilary Miller designed the first colour cover and proudly SJN now boasted 16 pages of information, rising to 20 or even 24 for the Rosh Hashanah issue.
Every month, each of the four synagogues contribute a page with inspiring messages from each of the rabbis. News came in from Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings & Bexhill. Most of the community organisations send in stories and messages, including personal announcements, details of events and photographs, charity reports, information from the JACS and Historical Society team and also the very full programme at Ralli Hall. There continue to be film and theatre coverage, book reviews, reminiscences, personality profiles, poetry, history and information about Israel.
SJN has no reporters as such, but is grateful for all those who send in articles, comments, letters and advise the team of what has or is about to happen. All the major community events have been covered, such as the Holocaust Memorial at Meadowview Cemetery, the launch of Jewish Continuity; the Anne Frank Exhibition at Brighton College; the Brighton Jewish Film Festival; the deaths of our greats – Yitzhak Rabin, Rabbi Erwin Rosenbloom, Rev. Kalman Fausner; MBEs and OBEs awarded to members of our community; the Torah Academy; Hillel House; the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at Sussex University as well as the induction of Rabbis Efune and Rader by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; the visit of Chief Rabbi Efraim Mirvis; the induction of Rabbis Meyer and Zanardo at the Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue and Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah at the Progressive Synagogue.
The SJN team is very small, but very dedicated and there have been a few changes. Katie Lyons took over from Steven Morris for a while with her computer expertise and helped to redesign the SJN look. The blind and partially-sighted were delighted when Stewart Macintosh recorded each month’s issue onto cassette tapes and then floppy disks which were sent out free of charge every month to ten or twelve subscribers in special envelopes which they returned free of charge in the post.
Over the years, SJN benefited from the knowledge and support of a number of wonderful helpers – Laurence Temerlies, Calum Turner, Myra Winston, Deanna Samuels, Laura Sharpe, Angela Goldman, Sharon Rubin, Karen Pettit and Ivor Miskin z’l. Doris Levinson stepped down in 2006 as her husband was very ill and sadly passed away in 2007. Arnold Lewis, who had been the Administrator, also sadly passed away in 2007. But miraculously, Linda Freeman, who had come back down to live in Brighton from London, stepped up to the mark and offered to take over the editorship of the magazine for a couple of years, with Ivor Sorokin as Administrator, assisted by David Seidel, Sharon Rubin and Ivor Miskin, who sadly is also no longer with us.
Out of the blue, SJN had the extreme good fortune to be joined by Stephanie and Brian Megitt who had come to live in Eastbourne from Manchester and they have been and still are an immense asset, working tirelessly with great expertise together with Ivor Sorokin, Bernard and Lydia Swithern, David Seidel, and Michael Rich Doris Levinson, who came back on board,.
The magazine has been completely transformed into a full colour production with amazing front covers and interesting articles. Two weeks of every month are dedicated to the production of SJN, sourcing information, editing and proofing copy, chasing people for articles in time for the deadline, sourcing Communal Diary events, obtaining advertisements, sending out invoices and organising the printing and posting of the magazine. It is a professional production, produced by a team of dedicated volunteers.
Sussex Jewish News has become an archive for the Jewish community in Brighton, Hove and Sussex. It is sent to the East Sussex archive and to the Jewish Museum in Jerusalem. There are readers all over the world.
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Issue 300
September 2019
SUSSEX SUSSEX JEWISH JEWISH NEWS NEWS WHAT’S INSIDE... HAPPY NEW YEAR | NEW YEAR GREETINGS | WHITTINGHAME REUNION | WHAT’S ON | AND MORE SEPTEMBER 2019 • ELUL 5779 – TISHREI 5780 • ISSUE 300 Whats 2 Community Spotlight Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board by Marc Carlton “No one in our community should have to choose between ‘heating or eating.” We are incredibly lucky to live in a country that operates a Welfare State. It means that, if and when we fall on hard times, the State will provide us with shelter and food to cover our basic needs. There will be no money for luxuries and very often people have to choose between heating their homes or buying enough food to eat. The Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board (BHJWB) was established in 1846 with the aims of alleviating hardship and deprivation and since that time, we have man or woman sitting next to you in synagogue or at a Ralli Hall function. There will be no thanks and no recognition of your charitable deed. Only you will know that you have directly helped to sustain a fellow member of your community. If you are 65 or over you will soon be receiving your Annual Fuel Payment from the government. If you really do not need that extra money please donate that amount to the BHJWB and we will pass it on to an individual or family in greater need. Our account details are as follows: Account name: Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board been providing financial assistance to Jewish people Sort code: 30 91 25 living in Brighton and Hove and throughout Sussex. Account Number: 00079368 The model of our charity is simple. We receive Please give your name as the ‘reference’. donations and legacies from our supporters and give that money directly to those members of our community who are in greatest need. We provide a small amount of money each month to our clients to make sure that, amongst other things, they can both heat their homes and buy food. And finally, if you know of anyone in our community who needs financial assistance please ask them to contact our charity by either calling 07952 479 111 or by email to info@bhjwb.org All applications are means tested and will be treated with complete confidentiality. In effect, you would be anonymously supporting the Thank you for your continued support. Cover: Rosh Hashanah Still Life by Svitlana TereshchenkoEDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins communities, contacts and more. Delivered at the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER IMAGE Svitlana Tereshchenko the Jewish community across the region. PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 6 SEPTEMBER 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 ROSH HASHANAH STILL LIFE Cover image by Svitlana Tereshchenko 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT ON... Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 4 UNBLOCKING THE TOILET BLOCK Jonathan Conway on the renovations to Meadowview Cemetery 9 NEW YEAR GREETINGS From around the community 12 ZAK REK DA’ATI 10 Thoughts from Godfrey Gould 13 WHITTINGHAME REUNION Yael Breuer meets people from Whittinghame 16 SUSSEX JEWISH ARTS FESTIVAL Highlights from the day 18 RALLI HALL COMMUNITY NEWS Activities in your future REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 19 CULTURE History, Our Favourite Things and more 24 WHAT’S ON – SEPTEMBER Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 20 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 21 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 22 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 23 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 3 Contents MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 • accept advertisements and announcements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements or announcements; Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by Flyers: £40 per Flyer email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 4 Sussex and the City Your News Engagements Births We wish a hearty mazel tov to Natalie Wrightman and Mike Gilbert on their engagement. Mazel tov to June Jackson on the birth of a great granddaughter in Israel. First grandchild for Graeme and Arella. Anniversaries Mazel tov to Kirsten and Simon Hatchwell on the Special Birthdays celebration of their Diamond Wedding anniversary. Mazel tov to Freddy Lind who is celebrating his 90th birthday. To our dear and loving parents, Lisa & Adam Levene Bnei Mitzvah • Mazel tov to Eleanor & Freddy Lind on the bar mitzvah in Israel of their grandson, Itamar Levy. Congratulations on reaching 30 years of marriage. With all our love, Samuel, Daniel, Joshua & Joel Levene • Mazel tov to Lucy Sugarman on the bat mitzvah in Israel of her granddaughter Miki, daughter of Rachel and Marc. Get Well Achievements We wish a refuah sheleimah to all members of our community who are unwell or in hospital at the present Simon Blomenberg, grandson of Rita Blomenberg and time. son of Jacqueline and Maurice Blomenberg, has been awarded a First Class Honours Degree in Politics with Deaths Business Management from Queen Mary University of London. We wish Long Life to the family of Alida Steinfeld z’l. Your Views Care in the community – at its best Windows on our world What a remarkable local community we are! When Congratulations Michael (Coppins) on a beautiful problems come to call - out of the blue – as they do, August SJN cover. that is when help kicks in. Be it company, phone calls, flowers, cakes or advice. Suddenly there is a descent Lydia and Bernard Swithern of warmth and understanding. How very lucky we are to have such a blessing. It should be called “The ring of roses.” Liz Posner Meadowview Cemetery has an upgrade by Jonathan Conway, Cemetery Director BHHC For a number of years our community had been wanting to refurbish the toilet block at the Jewish Ronnie Bloom hands the keys to Jonathan Conway. Photo taken by cemetery at Meadowview, Brighton. However, due Lee Pattenden to the combination of an ageing community and a lack of funds, this was only an ambition. Until, that is, Tony Bloom stood before the community at Ralli Hall and said that one of the ways in which the Bloom Foundation could help would be to upgrade the facilities at Meadowview Cemetery. When people visit our cemetery for funerals, stonesettings, or just to visit the graves of their loved ones, one of the first things that they may need is a working toilet – they now have two. Initially, the basins outside the Ohel (prayer hall) were replaced with a smart marble surround. Then meetings were held and plans were drawn up detailing the improvement of the toilet facilities, including an accessible toilet. We agreed to wait until the spring and then work began, firstly to clear away the overgrown vegetation and then to rebuild the toilets, with the addition of a path and a retaining wall outside. I would like to thank the Bloom Foundation for their most generous donation of both the toilet block and the wash handbasins. Thanks particularly to Ronnie Bloom and Lee Pattenden for all their patience. I hope that the community will appreciate this upgrade to our facilities at Meadowview Cemetery. Jonathan Conway is the Chairman of the Cemetery Committee at Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 5 ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 6 The Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall by Jacquie Tichauer We were invited to Hyman Fine for their lovely BBQ, and be having a lovely afternoon tea on the 24th November - were very lucky with the weather and, as always, the food what else could you ask for on a cold winter afternoon? was excellent. Many people were disappointed last time as tickets sold On 26 July, in conjunction with Helping Hands, we had a out very quickly, so please book early. lovely Shabbat dinner. This was a very enjoyable evening Forthcoming Attractions: and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying the company and good food. We would like to thank the Ladies who play Bridge for joining us for lunch and then • Thursday 12 September: Margaret and Mark are giving a talk about their recent trip to Israel for playing bridge in the afternoon: we are looking forward • Sunday 15 September: Card afternoon Ralli Hall Lunch to more of them coming in the near future. and Social Club - £10 a ticket Thank you to everyone who has joined our 100 Club, • 1 November - 4 November: Eastbourne weekend which is a great help in keeping the lunch club running. We still have a few places and if you are interested it only • 24 November: Top Hats and Lunch Club afternoon Tea costs £8 a month and we have a draw every quarter. A double draw was held on Tuesday 6 August and the winners, Mavis Hirschberg and Marilyn Lennard, received £100 each. Remember if you are feeling hungry or looking for a wee chat or would like some easy chair exercise, please join us on a Tuesday and Thursday. And I need your help, as I am very short of volunteers on a Tuesday afternoon, so On the first Thursday of the month we are always happy to welcome JACS, who join us for lunch followed by a if you have a few hours, from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm, to give us a hand, this would be amazing. very interesting talk. Please come along on Thursday 12 September when we will have our yearly talk from Mark and Margaret about their amazing trip to Israel. We are very excited to work again with Top Hats, whose singing makes everyone want to join in. This time we will We wish Alan and Shirley lots of luck and many years of happiness in their new home. To contact the Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall, please telephone Jacqueline on 01273 739999 or email her at ralliday@tiscali.co.uk ralliday@tiscali.co.uk Helping Hands looks back on the year Helping Hands has had another busy and successful year. Our telephone is manned by volunteers who answer calls for assistance from the Community, including requests for lifts to hospital appointments, opticians, doctors, food shopping, etc. All requests are answered and we do our best to resolve them. Our caring volunteers befriend people by visiting them in their homes, taking them out, or by providing a listening ear. We thank our wonderful group of volunteers for their time and effort in making this possible; we could not do it without them. We believe that in the words of the late John Lennon, “There are no problems, only solutions”. Our teas are proving as popular as ever, enabling people to meet, socialise, and enjoy delicious food, a fun raffle and entertainment. We would like to thank the Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue for the use of the AJEX Centre. In July we held our second Friday night Shabbat Supper which was enjoyed by over sixty guests, with the traditional blessings and a delicious meal. Comments were made about how nice it was to celebrate Shabbat with other people. The Helping Hands bus has been out and about over the year, taking people to the Lunch and Social Club, ferrying guests to the teas, as well as being hired privately. We feel that all of the above help, if only in a small ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 way, to alleviate the problem of Social Isolation in the Community. Our clients and volunteers are amazing and contribute to making Helping Hands such a successful organisation. If you can provide help in any number of ways, large or small, occasionally or frequently, or need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are currently revamping our website and logo and look forward to launching it soon, so keep your eyes open! We wish all the Community Shana Tova. Sussex and the City 01273 747722 Sussex and the City Amber Rose 1970-2019 by David and Susan Rose In May this year our darling daughter tragically passed away from a terrible and very rare cancer at the age of 49. Many of you knew her but perhaps did not know about her extraordinary achievements during that time. Amber was born in London and then moved with us, firstly to Tunbridge Wells and then to Hove. She attended Blatchington Mill School and also BHASVIC. Sunday mornings were taken up by going to the Reform Synagogue Hebrew classes. She was also an active and proud member of the Jewish Lads and Girls Brigade. 7 Amber was always interested in acting and drama and whilst at school appeared in a number of Ralli Hall shows. In 1984 she appeared in Hair Flair Magazine as a model for hair styling. She received numerous diplomas for ballet, tap, speech and drama. She also appeared on television in a trial of a new show called Love Me Love Me Not (in which she impersonated Woody Allen) and also was cast as a Tara Palmer Tomkinson double in the show Dead Ringers playing opposite a Prince Andrew double. After leaving BHASVIC, Amber went with a group of students to Israel for a year. Whilst she was there she received 2 certificates for setting up and running acting and drama classes for young children and also successfully running a major project to help disabled children. For the last 3 months of her year in Eretz Yisroel she trained with the Israeli Army including learning how to handle an Uzi submachine gun. After a year in Israel Amber moved to Johannesburg and obtained a temporary job with People Magazine which was owned by Sol Kerzner. She had been working there for only 3 weeks when the boss came over to her and told her that the Production Manager had left and he would like her to have the job. Surprised, she took the job and successfully ran the magazine for 3 years during which time she also interviewed many famous people. After 3 years she had decided that she wanted a career in journalism and came back to the UK. She studied at City University in London and obtained a degree in Journalism and Politics. She started working for Harpers Magazine before moving to Estates Gazette reporting and winning a Young Journalist of the Year award. She was then promoted to Production Manager before moving to the BBC to write for their staff magazine, before transferring to become a Senior Broadcasting Journalist with BBC World Service. Whilst on holiday in Cadiz Spain she met her future husband Georg. Georg came over to live and work in London and then they got married. Amber had her first baby, after which Georg accepted a job in Munich with Intel and then Amber had a second baby. Amber and Georg joined Beth Shalom in Munich where Amber immediately made lifelong friends with Rabbi Tom and made many new friends. After a while Amber wrote an article about being Jewish and living in Germany which was published in the Jewish Chronicle. Shortly after this she taught English to business people at Volvo before she got a job with Intel, taking responsibility for Internal Communications. Wishing to keep her hand in with entertainment, she wrote a number of songs with Georg. She sang them whilst he played the guitar. We wished they had released them on the internet and only have a copy of one song which is amusing and makes fun at the quality of German television. She began to write a book and left Intel in the hope that she could complete it. Sadly, that was never to be. The Lavoya was held in Germany and over 100 people attended, coming from New Zealand, Australia and the UK as well as Germany. Moving testimonies were read by David, our daughter Luan and Rabbi Tom who, as a close friend of Amber, was deeply affected by her death. Since that time we have received numerous messages, phone calls and emails of condolence and Amber’s Facebook account has been saturated with wonderful comments. We are very proud of our daughter’s achievements and we have to live with the knowledge that we will never see her again. However the tremendous support that we have had from friends and family will help us get through this and we thank you all for this support Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 8 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons August was our busiest month with two matches against London clubs, one tournament and our August society meeting. Our away matches against Coombe Hill Golf Club in Surrey and Abridge Golf and Country Club in Essex were keenly fought as usual and we performed well again playing for the Tri-Nations trophy in Berkshire. This is our annual match against Jewish golf societies from South Wales and Bournemouth, with a team representing the UK and Ireland competing for the first time. The trophy now needs to be re- named. We sent a team of six to play in the Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies’ Seniors Golf Tournament held at Dyrham Park Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire, a predominately Jewish club. This is an annual tournament contested by Jewish golf clubs and societies and with some very creditable scores, we came third out of seventeen teams. A great achievement for a small golf society. Hyman Fine House by Natasha Carson and Mark Pady ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 Our August meeting at the links course at Littlehampton, the only golf course in Sussex that replicates the testing conditions of the Open Championship, was postponed until 5 September, due to the forecasted heavy rain. As our season winds down, September will be a less busy month. However, we are looking forward to our meeting on 18 September at Nevill Golf Club on the East Sussex and Kent border at Tunbridge Wells. It’s a course we have not visited for many years and it will be a good test of our golfing skills. We expect another large turnout from our members. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at ashley@sportscastnet.com We were delighted to be invited to exhibit our work at the Sussex Jewish Arts Festival at Ralli Hall. We have some very talented residents and they have produced a variety of original pieces. We have made some beautiful mosaics, have designed and printed our own cushions and have made cards for all occasions. We have also designed and printed aprons which are put to good use in our cookery club. Several of our residents have their art work displayed around the home. The atmosphere at Ralli Hall was friendly and welcoming and it was very, very, busy! The standard of work was excellent and it was lovely that people took the time to sit and chat with us at our stall. We were also very pleased to be invited to afternoon tea in Ronnie and Wendy Bloom’s garden. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and they made us feel completely at home in wonderful surroundings. They laid on a magnificent spread. Resident, Alan Bass, said “they were so hospitable and provided a sumptuous tea. We are so grateful for such a lovely afternoon and for everything that the family does for us”. If you would like to learn more about volunteering in the home, please contact Natasha or Mark on 01273 688226. Did you know, volunteering doesn’t have to be every week? We have some lovely volunteers who come only on high holy days and others just in the school holidays - there’s a role for everyone. Sussex and the City Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com ABBOUDI Juju and family wish everyone a happy New Year and well over the fast. ABRAHAMS Roger and Irit wish “Shana Tova” to all their friends and relatives. APEL Ralph and Clare wish all their friends in Brighton and Hove a happy New Year and well over fast, those from the Shul and those we met at ‘Push’. BARNARD / SEIDEL with all good wishes from Rachel, David, Moses and Gabriel. BARNETT Sandra wishes family, friends and the whole Community a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. BARSAM Claire and Sam send warmest greetings to their dear family and friends and wishes for a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. BLOOM Wendy and Ronnie wish their family and friends a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. BOOKER Beryl, John and Maurice wish family and friends a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. BURKE Shirley and Alan would like to wish all their relatives and friends a very happy and healthy New Year with our best wishes for the future. CARLEBACH Myrna and family wish Shana Tova for good health and peace. CARLTON Sandra & Derek wish all their family and friends a peaceful and happy New Year. CATERING CONNECTIONS Angela and Dawn wish the entire community a happy and peaceful New Year. CENTRE FOR GERMAN JEWISH STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX wishes its friends in the Sussex Jewish community a happy and peaceful New Year. COLLINS Jean wishes her family and all her friends a happy and peaceful New Year. NEW YEAR GREETINGS 5780 THE SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM THANKS YOU ALL FOR SUPPORTING US DURING THE PAST YEAR AND SENDS WARMEST GREETINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR CONN Anne sends love and good health to all her family. Shana Tova. CONWAY Susan together with Jonathan and Simon and family wish the whole community a happy, peaceful and healthy New Year and well over the fast. COWAN Janet wishes everyone a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. CROOK Ann and Michael and family wish all their relatives and friends Shana Tova and a happy, healthy and peaceful 5780. CROWN/LYONS/ANDERSEN Shana Tova from Jeremy, Saonie, Elizabeth, Ghila, Rich, Annalise and Isabella. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful 5780. CUDDIS Shan and David wish family and friends a very happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. DAVIS Angela and Joe wish all their family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. DAVIS Ruth and Roy wish all their friends and family a happy New Year and well over the fast. DOCTORS Anthony and Philip Doctors would like to wish family, friends and all congregants a happy New Year and well over the fast. DUKE Norina and all the ‘Dukes of Hove’ wish their friends and family a sweet and healthy New Year and well over the Fast. EVANS Evelyn wishes her family and all her friends a very happy and healthy New Year. FAULL Dian and family wish relatives and friends a happy and healthy New Year. FAULL Maurice and Laura, together with Matthew and Emily wish family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. FELSENSTEIN Linda and Raymond wish their family and friends a happy New Year and well over the fast. 9 FERRIS Benita wishes her dear family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. Shana Tova. FEUERSTEIN Jacqui and Raymond wish all their family, friends and the SJN team a very happy, healthy and successful 5780. FISHER Marilyn wishes all her family and friends a happy New Year and well over the fast. FLASHMAN Roz and Michael wish their dear family and friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. FREEDMAN Suzanne wishes Shana Tova Happy New Year to all friends in the community of friends. GABRIEL Bert and Judy send good wishes to everyone. Shana Tova. GORDON Barbara and Ian send love and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to their beloved family in Shoreham and many friends in Worthing. GORDON Joan and family wish all her family and friends a happy New Year and a good year ahead. GOULD Godfrey sends his very best wishes to all family and friends for a happy, peaceful and healthy New Year. GREEN Sheila and Ruth wish everyone in the Community good health and happiness for the New Year. GREENWOOD Janice wishes her children, grand-daughters, relatives and friends a happy, healthy, peaceful and rewarding year. HARRIS Karen, Michael and Oliver wish all members of the Community a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. Shana Tova. HATCHWELL Kirsten, Simon and family wish Rabbi Samuel, the congregants of Hove Hebrew Congregation and their friends in the Community a very happy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 10 1 HELPING HANDS wish all our wonderful volunteers, clients and the whole Community a good and sweet Year. Shana Tova Umetukah. Thank you for all your support. HOLLAND ROAD SHUL The Chairman together with the Board of Management wish Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer, the congregation and members of the Jewish Community a very happy New Year and well over the fast. ISAACS Barbara would like to wish all her family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. JAY Jean wishes her family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. KRAVETZ Sylvia and Arthur wish their family in Israel and New York together with their friends at Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation a sweet, healthy and peaceful New Year. LASKY Doreen and Malcolm and their family would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. LEVENE Lisa and Adam, together with Samuel, Daniel, Joshua and Joel wish their family and friends a Happy New Year and well over the fast. LEVER Alan and family wish the Rabbonim and all of the Community a very happy, healthy and peaceful year. Shana Tova! LEVINSON Doris wishes the Rabbonim, her family, friends and colleagues in the Community a happy and healthy New Year. LIND Eleanor and Freddy wish the whole community a healthy, happy New Year and well over the fast LUNCH AND SOCIAL CLUB AT RALLI HALL wish all members, volunteers and the whole Community a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year. MAGRILL Marilyn wishes Shana Tova to all her family and friends and well over the fast. MANN Lewis and family would like to wish all their friends a happy and healthy New Year. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 MAY Irene & Ralph with Miriam and Zoe wish all our SJN friends a happy, healthy &peaceful 5780. MEDIPHARM LTD The Solomon family wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. MEGITT Stephanie and Brian wish all their friends in East Sussex a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. MELCHER Joan and David wish family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. MILLER Pearl wishes all the city’s Rabbonim, their families and our wider Jewish Community a healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast. MITCHELL Rita wishes her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, relatives and friends a very healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast. MOSS Pat and Roland wish their dear family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. NOAH, LEVEY June and Adrian wish the Brighton and Hove Community a peaceful, healthy and happy New Year. OBERMAN Rochelle and Gerald wish family, friends and all the Community a very Happy New Year. PANTO Rosa & Stuart wish all their family and friends a healthy and happy New Year. PANTOOCK Rosalind wishes her friends and relatives, living in the Hove area, good health and happiness in the year ahead. PHILLIPS Michael, Penelope and family wish their friends and family a year filled with health, happiness and sweet moments. L’Shana Tova! POSNER Liz sends all good wishes for a sweet and healthy New Year to family and friends. RENTS Renee and family wishes all friends a very happy New Year. RICH Gillian and Michael wish family and friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. RICHARDS Ivor wishes his family and friends a happy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. ROLAND Marianne and Bernard would like to wish family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. ROSE Jack and Elaine wish Shana Tova to all together with the little Roses especially the three grandchildren. ROSE Susan and David wish all our family and friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. ROSENFIELD Sue and Tony wish their family and friends “Shana Tova”. May you have a year of health, happiness and peace. ROSENTHAL Shana Tova and all good wishes for the coming year from Jessica, together with Miriam, Dave, Esther and Jacob, Sam, Ruth and Tessa. RUBIN Brian & Sharon wish their friends and relatives a happy New Year and well over the Fast. RUBIN Hazel and Joe send their best wishes to their family and friends for a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. RUTHERFORD Sandra, Amanda & Fiona together with Filipa and Julia wish their friends a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. SAMUELS Angela and Steven wish the entire community a happy and healthy New Year. SCHAVERIEN David wishes Rabbonim, fellow congregants and friends a peaceful Shana Tova. SELIGMAN Melanie and Simon, Dan and Liora, Rachel and Charlotte wish all family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. SHARPE Beryl and Mef wish our dear children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. SHELTON Fausta wishes everyone in the Community good health and peace. L’Shana Tova. SILVER Bernice and Arthur wish Jason, Jeffrey, Roman and all their friends a most happy, healthy and trouble-free Yom Tov and an easy fast. SILVER Corinne Rachelle wishes health, happiness, love, laughter and a very sweet year to all her dear family and friends in the Brighton and Hove area. SIMONS Philip wishes his family, friends and members, volunteers and staff of Ralli Hall and the Ralli Hall Lunch Club a very Happy New Year. SIMONS Ruth wishes all the Community a sweet and healthy New Year. SOROKIN The Sorokin family send sincere Shana Tova wishes for health, joy and peace within our local community. STANFORD Jeffrey, Lydia, Simon and Lisa wish family, friends and the entire community a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. SUGARMAN Lucy wishes her dear family, friends and Rabbonim a very healthy, peaceful and happy New Year and well over the fast. SUSSEX BRANCH JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY Shana Tova. We look forward to welcoming you to our next set of lectures. Full details at https://jhse.org/branches/sussex/ SUSSEX JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL The President, Chair Team and Executive wish all the community a happy and successful New Year and well over the Fast. SWITHERN Lydia and Bernard wish their dear family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. TAYLOR Ronnie and Linda wish their dear family, friends and all the members of the Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation a happy and healthy New Year. TOBIN Judith, Ben and family wish Shana Tova Umetuka to all their Sussex friends. TORRANCE Tom and Cherry wish family and friends in the UK and Israel good health, peace and joyful times in 5780. Gmar Hatima Tova. WALKER Doreen, Bernie, Lesley, Steve, Oliver and Ryan wish all their dear family and friends a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WALLACH Rabbi Charles and Marilyn wish their relatives and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. Many thanks to all the people who have enquired about the Rabbi’s health. LeShana Tova Umetuka. THE WESSEX JEWISH NEWS TEAM wish everyone at SJN and the community a happy and healthy New Year. 11 WILKS Sarah and David wish all their family, friends and the whole Community a good and sweet New Year and well over the fast. Shana Tova Umetuka. WILKS Sarah and David wish all their family, friends and the whole Community a good and sweet New Year and well over the fast. Shana Tova Umetuka. WILKS Sarah and David wish all their family, friends and the whole Community a good and sweet New Year and well over the fast. Shana Tova Umetuka. WINSTONE Sarah’s Catering and Jewish Deli would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WINSTONE Sarah’s Catering and Jewish Deli would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WINSTONE Sarah’s Catering and Jewish Deli would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WINSTONE Sarah’s Catering and Jewish Deli would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WOOLFE Laurel and Julian wish their children, grandchildren, Millie and friends a healthy and happy New Year. WOOLFE Laurel and Julian wish their children, grandchildren, Millie and friends a healthy and happy New Year. ZANARDO Rabbi Andrea, Sara, Dov, Yair and Hila wish a year full of sweetness to Brighton and Hove, and to the rest of the world. ZANARDO Rabbi Andrea, Sara, Dov, Yair and Hila wish a year full of sweetness to Brighton and Hove, and to the rest of the world. ZANARDO Rabbi Andrea, Sara, Dov, Yair and Hila wish a year full of sweetness to Brighton and Hove, and to the rest of the world. Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove We are currently operating a waiting list for our comfortable properties in Central Hove. Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water, use of garden television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form Wishing all our customers a Happy New Year ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 12 Features 1 Zeh Rak Da-ati 10 by Godfrey R Gould I have recently been speaking to sundry Insurance Companies regarding the renewal of my Home and Contents insurance. I was responding to questions from one young lady about the distance of my home from the nearest river or the sea, and the likelihood of flooding. My responses regarding the sea caused some excitement. As the young lady lived in Birmingham, she told me how much she would like to live so close to the sea and how wonderful it must be for me, just a street away from the beach. I had to tell her that my ‘beach’ days were a thing of the past and it was a few years since I trod on our shingle foreshore. But in my younger days, days spent on the beach were a joy. By the same token, neighbouring gardens are now alive with the noisy excitement of children playing on their swings, trampolines and other equipment which are the essentials of modern living for the young. Our days spent on the beautiful sands at Whitley Bay in Northumberland were full of excitement, but our activities quite simple. We built fortresses in the sand, dammed streams which came from overflows, and enjoyed the sea itself. When it was really rough we would stand with our backs to the breaking waves trying to adjust to that spot where a huge wave would hit us in the back. The trick was not to be knocked over by the breaking wave. Health and Safety would be horrified. And not merely that. Nearby were two small valleys with rivulets flowing through them. The smaller, Briardene Burn, ran through the local Golf Course and was little more than a stream. Nevertheless, the water had cut well into the surface leaving plenty of variety for adventure and excitement. It required a short cycle ride to reach the Seaton Burn, much more a river, having its source over 10 miles away north of Newcastle, but its variety affording even more worthwhile visits. Lines of trees sheltered the valley from a road to the south and Voluntary Support Agencies fields to the north. Our pleasures were simple but so rewarding. • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk Of course, we didn’t have ‘proper’ holidays abroad • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 or even to a hotel in England. But in 1943 and 1944 we stayed for a week on a farm at Appleby in Westmoreland. Even there we found our adventure playground. In a broad bend of the River Eden there were three small islands and a larger one. They were near an accessible river bank and somebody had • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands. org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org fortunately dumped several concrete blocks just there • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@ so we could get on to these islands without getting googlemail.com our feet too wet. Yet again we had found our own adventure area, our time there requiring no bother to adults. After the war my friend, Jeremy, moved to Penrith in Cumberland with his family and so just a short bus ride away. With the hire of a rowing boat for the day we now had the whole of Ullswater at our disposal. Such was the simplicity of a childhood then, much of it during war conditions. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 In those days we didn’t complain about what we didn’t have, because we didn’t know that we didn’t have it. Our world is so different today, though not always for the better. Little babies have to fly abroad, despite their distress when taking off and landing, because their parents have to have foreign holidays. And when they get a little older, they have to be provided with the wherewithal to keep them content and quiet. As a former teacher I’m not so sure that education has improved all that much. Certainly, I would not wish to be a teacher today but if I were, I’m certain I would be a much better teacher than I was all those years ago. Generally, transport has changed but again not always for the better. Trains are faster and more frequent, but so are rail replacement buses (frequency thereof). There are far more motorways and dual carriageways but with many more vehicles and traffic jams. And you can fly relatively cheaply all over the world, but with so much waiting time involved before and after the actual flight time. The one area in which there is a real tangible improvement is in health care and life expectancy. And that despite the many complaints about health care in this country. But life generally seems to have become so much more complicated. We, who have now reached the coda of our lives, coped with living without all the help and agencies on which the young seem now to be so dependent. How, I wonder, did we manage quite so well? • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com The Whittingehame College Reunion by Yael Breuer It is a rare but wonderful feeling to enter a place full of unfamiliar faces, yet to be made to feel welcome and immediately at home. The atmosphere at the recent Whittingehame College reunion at the Metropole hotel in Brighton was so warm and friendly that it was almost tangible. Over 100 ‘boys’ who had attended the Jewish boarding school, established in 1931 at The Drive, Hove, later moving to Surrenden Road in Brighton and expanding to Handcross before closing in 1967, arrived from all over the world for a weekend of socialising and reminiscing with fellow pupils who had studied at the school in the late 50s and 60s. Jack Abraham, who attended the school for four years from 1958, says that the years at Whittingehame College moulded his and his friends’ characters and personalities and instilled “Powerful life values, teaching us - students from five continents with diverse languages and cultures - to be responsible and accountable for our own actions. We formed strong brotherly friendships that have lasted and continue to this day, which explains why 110 of us came back to Brighton for a reunion 52 years after the closure of the school”. Jack’s family moved from Afghanistan to Israel in 1954, where he lived for four years under the auspices of “Youth Aliyah” before being sent to Whittingehame College at the age of 15. Jack, President of “Jack Abraham - The Precious Collection”, has been actively involved throughout the years in various community, industry and charitable causes and projects, including being the founder and President of the Afghan Synagogue in New York, the charitable trust Save a Child’s Heart and even the organiser of Minyanim and Kosher food catering at jewellery shows in America. “The respect that we were given and expected to give back while at the school taught us to keep our word, to share and care for others. I came to Wittingehame College with not one word of English, but came out of there enriched for life.” L- R Jack Abraham, Dubi Shiff planes and dreaming of being involved in the aerospace industry and space exploration. “Eli and I are still good friends and have attended all of each others’ Semachot. Eli’s talk at the reunion about his work, struggles and eventual success was inspirational”, he says proudly. Many of the pupils remember the headmaster and founder, Jacob ‘Jake’ Halévy, as a strong disciplinarian, autocratic but also influential and a fair man, and his acting head, Eldon Smith, as the “glue”, the “catalyst” that served to unite the pupils and was a constant presence in their lives. Mr Smith was, in fact, instrumental in establishing the first reunions that have since taken place on a regular basis. Despite the existence of two other Jewish schools in the town, Carmel House and Aryeh House, Whittingehame College pupils had little contact with the other schools but formed a strong, family-like unit. place on a regular basis. Despite the existence of two other Jewish schools in the town, Carmel House and Aryeh House, Whittingehame College pupils had little contact with the other schools but formed a strong, family-like unit. Fellow pupil Ernest Sinyor, was sent to the school at the age of 11 from Egypt, where his family originated, and subsequently extended to 1,000-strong descendants, most of whom now live in Israel. Despite admitting to having been on the mischievous side at school and in trouble with the school authorities on a regular basis, Ernest feels that the time at Whittingehame College was important for his moral and cultural development. “I acquired appreciation of my heritage, as well as understanding the importance of respect”, he says. “My two brothers and I left Egypt in 1955 to study in England as my father felt that education in Egypt was becoming restrictive under the nationalism at the time. While at school, between 1955 and 1962, we went to Egypt only once a year for vacations or occasions, but otherwise the college was home.” Fellow pupil Ernest Sinyor, was sent to the school at the age of 11 from Egypt, where his family originated, and subsequently extended to 1,000-strong descendants, most of whom now live in Israel. Despite admitting to having been on the mischievous side at school and in trouble with the school authorities on a regular basis, Ernest feels that the time at Whittingehame College was important for his moral and cultural development. “I acquired appreciation of my heritage, as well as understanding the importance of respect”, he says. “My two brothers and I left Egypt in 1955 to study in England as my father felt that education in Egypt was becoming restrictive under the nationalism at the time. While at school, between 1955 and 1962, we went to Egypt only once a year for vacations or occasions, but otherwise the college was home.” Fellow pupil Ernest Sinyor, was sent to the school at the age of 11 from Egypt, where his family originated, and subsequently extended to 1,000-strong descendants, most of whom now live in Israel. Despite admitting to having been on the mischievous side at school and in trouble with the school authorities on a regular basis, Ernest feels that the time at Whittingehame College was important for his moral and cultural development. “I acquired appreciation of my heritage, as well as understanding the importance of respect”, he says. “My two brothers and I left Egypt in 1955 to study in England as my father felt that education in Egypt was becoming restrictive under the nationalism at the time. While at school, between 1955 and 1962, we went to Egypt only once a year for vacations or occasions, but otherwise the college was home.” Ernest’s first encounter with antisemitism took place in Brighton, when three local boys shouted racial abuse at him and his friends while walking in the street. The incident left the young Ernest puzzled and angered about the reasons for such unprovoked hatred, and then, within a month, he witnessed a similar incident, this time from the opposite direction. “We had some Muslim pupils at the school, whose parents sent them there due to their dietary halal requirements which were met by the kosher food served Ernest’s first encounter with antisemitism took place in Brighton, when three local boys shouted racial abuse at him and his friends while walking in the street. The incident left the young Ernest puzzled and angered about the reasons for such unprovoked hatred, and then, within a month, he witnessed a similar incident, this time from the opposite direction. “We had some Muslim pupils at the school, whose parents sent them there due to their dietary halal requirements which were met by the kosher food served Ernest’s first encounter with antisemitism took place in Brighton, when three local boys shouted racial abuse at him and his friends while walking in the street. The incident left the young Ernest puzzled and angered about the reasons for such unprovoked hatred, and then, within a month, he witnessed a similar incident, this time from the opposite direction. “We had some Muslim pupils at the school, whose parents sent them there due to their dietary halal requirements which were met by the kosher food served Jack, who, together with his best friend at school, Eli Harari, the Israeli founder and chairman of ‘SanDisk’, a world leader in chip manufacturing, spent hours sitting next to each other drawing SST (Super Sonic Transport) Features 13 L-R Ernest Sinyor, Jack Abraham, Masoud Gilardy ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 14 Features 1 at Whittingehame College. One of the Jewish students directed a racist comment at one of the Muslim boys, but the other Jewish pupils wouldn’t tolerate it and actually punished the boy who had made the comment. In some way these two incidents formed my uncompromising dislike for racial hatred as well as understanding the importance of respecting minorities.” Graduating from McGill university with a degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Concordia in 1983, working in the family textile business for ten years and then at General Electric as well as an ESPM Consultant and managing a project on the Three Gorges Dam in China, the memory of these past incidents is still powerfully present in Ernest’s mind. “I will not tolerate any form of racism and have made sure throughout my working life and as a manager of people, that any member of the working teams would feel free and confident to report on racial incidents of any kind, and I would deal with it immediately. Respect of our heritage and of diversity is, I think, the most important aspect of behaviour which, if followed, makes us thrive.” Masoud Gilardy, who came to the school from Tehran and studied there from 1957- ‘63, arrived at the reunion from Germany, where he deals with precious stones. Gilardy stresses that he “Loved every minute of it. Even though I had to start from scratch when arriving at the school, I cherished the opportunity to be there, taking part in the various activities on offer, making strong friendships and progress”. Before embarking on his career, Gilardy joined the family business of carpets and rugs, and has a twinkle in the eye when he makes the analogy between the treatment of rugs and the human spirit - “A good rug ages well and in fact becomes better the more it is trodden on. My years at Whittingehame College, with the various challenges I faced, prepared me for life in a similar way: hardships and occasionally being trodden on can also prepare you for a life of achievement and eventual prosperity.” David Khafi, who was born in Herat in Afghanistan and whose family moved to India through Persia in 1949-50, enrolled at the school between 1957 and 1962, and claims that learning to live in harmony and share daily experiences successfully with people from different backgrounds and ethnicities taught him an important ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 lesson. “It is possible to live, get on and work successfully with a variety of people, even if they are different from you, which is something we humans must remember”, he says. David Khafi and Jacob A The school had a large intake from the Middle East in the 1950s and a number of pupils came from Israel. Businessman Yaakov A states that the three years he spent at the College enabled him to “Meet children from around the world and ‘discover’ a different type of Judaism. For me it was a melting pot that made me look differently at the world around me. I also remember the staff and especially the Deputy Head as very committed and involved”, he says. Co-organiser of the reunion, Dubi Schiff, who is another Israeli who lives in Tel Aviv and runs property and events/ hospitality companies, says that Whittingehame College was a “Great school. I enjoyed every minute of it and the atmosphere at the school was simply great”. To help the ‘boys’ stay in touch, the Whittingehame club has a website,www.whittingehame.com, maintained by Louis Mandel, born in Germany and now residing in Montreal. Mandel, who attended the school from 1959-1966 says that Whittingehame was a home away from home for many of us. “Most came at a young age, our formative years, away from our parents, to a foreign country with different habits and customs. It was truly an international scene, with groups of boys coming from far off lands, such as Turkey, Persia, Israel and Europe, the Americas and Asian continents. Most of our members are now scattered around the world. These reunions take us back in time, almost an unreal feeling, like entering the twilight zone. I’ve called our members the ‘boys’. It’s amazing how a bunch of 70 and 80 year olds can revert to their childhood pranks.” Those interested in a more in-depth look at the history of the school can download an online book, Jake’s Legacy by Eric Shanes, which chronicles the history of the College and significant events in the years of its existence. According to the book, the first pupils - two Londoners and the son of the founder - enrolled following an advertisement in the Jewish Chronicle in 1931. One of those pupils, the late Felix Gordon, wrote, “Whittingehame College began organic life at 1.30 pm on 10 September 1931, when its founder and Headmaster met the contingent of new boys at the Brighton Line, Victoria Station, London. The ‘contingent’ comprised two boys, Bernard Kempner, aged 12, and Felix Gordon, aged 10. How could two children, munching bars of chocolate provided by this strange and wonderful man, know that this was a historic journey?” Simon Hatchwell Not just ‘boys’, but a representative of the teaching staff was present at the recent reunion. Hebrew and Jewish History teacher Simon Hatchwell, who still resides in Brighton (we went for tea at his house), remembers the school and the pupils with great affection. “It gives me great pleasure to know that so many of the pupils have done so well in their lives and careers and are still in contact with one another”, he said. “I taught most of these boys their Bar Mitzvah portions and was very touched at the reunion when some told me that I helped enhance their Jewish identity”. Also present was Judy March, the daughter of another teacher, Stanley Franks. Judy, who returned to Brighton five years ago after 35 years in the USA, was delighted to be invited and to meet so many of the pupils at the reunion. “My father taught English, French, History and football from 1949 until the school closed in 1967. I was born in 1951 and from my earliest memories, I followed Daddy around the school in awe. Often the older boys would pick me up and carry me around on their shoulders. Judy March, daughter of Stanley Franks at the reunion with friends Features My grandfather, Harry Jacobs, owned the Embassy Cinema in Hove and my father was the manager in the evenings and weekends. As I grew up, I used to spot some of the boys from school sneaking around the cinema and in the coffee bars in town. Daddy always plugged me for info on the boys but he never reported them! The memories that were shared by the boys at the reunion were priceless. One ‘boy’ told me a story of when he was in detention and he was very angry. My father walked past and saw him and asked what happened. Then he told 15 the boy, “You can come with me”, and he took him home to our family for the evening. It had a profound effect on that guy and it is part of the close feeling that all the students had for each other and many of the staff. A special feeling of family and camaraderie. These men will go anywhere and do anything for each other,” she says. the boy, “You can come with me”, and he took him home to our family for the evening. It had a profound effect on that guy and it is part of the close feeling that all the students had for each other and many of the staff. A special feeling of family and camaraderie. These men will go anywhere and do anything for each other,” she says. Top Hat Productions TOP HATS and THE LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB Proudly present by great demand “OUR FAVOURITE THINGS” CABARET & SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEA On Sunday 24th November at 2.30pm at Ralli Hall, 81 Denmark Villas, Hove BN3 3TH Tickets: £15 each, from Laura: 01273 722173 (only 10 tables of 10) ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 16 Culture 1 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival by Gary Weston, Ralli Hall Committee Member and SJAF Event Organiser On the hot and sunny afternoon of Sunday July 28th the very first Sussex Jewish Arts Festival, organised and hosted by Ralli Hall, successfully launched at their Jewish Community Centre in Hove. Working closely with the Jewish Arts Society based at Ralli Hall, over 50 local Jewish artists, designers, craftspeople, photographers, sculptors, fashion and textile designers, jewellery makers and child artists joined together for one of the biggest Jewish arts and cultural events to be held outside London. Something indeed for us be proud of. Visitors arrived in the Main Hall to an impressive display of art from such local artisans as Norman Pearl, Michael Flashman, Doris Levinson, Beryl Sharpe, Natalie Wrightman, Sydney Levine, Evelyn Evans, Joe Davis, Ann Crook, Henrietta Hempling and Rochelle Oberman, including sculptures and the JAS archive albums. Nick Beck exhibited paintings and sculpture loaned by Evelyn Davis. Guests were also treated to amazing sculpture, art and figurines from the very talented Marilyn Panto and John Price. The Magrill Lounge was filled to capacity with people looking at the exhibits and displays coming from every corner and age group of our local community - children’s art and crafts from Montessori Torah Nursery and Parents 4 Cheder with the very talented Chet Peer. There was creativity from the residents of Hyman Fine House, displays from the Lunch and Social Club, Sussex Jewish News, Sussex Jewish Film Club and Friends of Ralli Hall. The Café Lounge was transformed into a photography gallery with fabulous displays from our sprightly Sidney Lipman and Brian Megitt, which included a special display of the photos used in his Sussex Jewish News covers. James Dollow displayed his photography in the Magrill Lounge. Featured artists were Martin Gould, Orna Pascal Schneerson, Amanda Rosenstein Davidson and photographer Sophie Sheinwald. If you haven’t seen the simply wonderful art, design, colours and photography of Martin, Orna, Amanda and Sophie, please search for their websites and/or try to visit one of their local shows. Also present were talented local artists Ronnie Bloom, Felicia Quick, Kitty Arscott, Josie Dowek and Zoe Morrison. As you viewed the SJAF, it became apparent just how many talented, creative and inspiring people we have in our community. Brighton certainly is a magnet for artists. Joining us from London was Contemporary Judaica which brought high quality and impressive art, crafts, jewellery and Judaica from Israel, USA and the UK. There was clearly a lot of interest with many people carrying CJ bags! Director, Danya Kay said, “We loved meeting the Sussex Jewish community and look forward to becoming a Judaica supplier to them with a special community discount and special offers newsletter”. The Deputy Town Mayor, Alan Robins, also a member of the Arts and Creative Industries Commission, officially opened the Festival at 2pm. Maxine Gordon, Ralli Hall Centre Manager, escorted him on a tour of the arts and crafts on show and introduced him to everyone. Rochelle Oberman (Jewish Arts Society Chairman) was proud to show him the variety of art from her society. When asked for feedback, he responded, “This is simply brilliant. Such a wonderful vibrant, ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 cultural event... Brighton and Hove needs more community events like this”. He urged us to make the SJAF an annual event and invited Ralli Hall to contact his office so that the City Council could provide support where possible. Later in the afternoon, Brighton & Hove Mayoress, Alexandra Phillips, also arrived to tour the Festival. Accompanied by Maxine Gordon, the Mayoress enthusiastically met everyone and spent much time exploring the work on show. The young child artists were especially excited to be at their very first art show and to meet the young Town Mayoress. You can then imagine their double excitement when the Mayoress requested a ‘selfie’ with them. Martin Gould received the Sussex Jewish Arts Festival Artist of 2019 award for his contribution and devotion to art in the community. Everyone was delighted for Martin to win this award and it was plain to see the love and admiration for him from so many. With over 200 visitors and 50 exhibitors attending, Ralli Hall soon became a bustling environment with a real buzz about the place. There was a wonderful soundtrack and backdrop of people meeting, laughing, just being together. A great community atmosphere permeated the event. One person said, “This is what a community centre is all about. I haven’t seen anything like this at Ralli Hall for a long time”. This was clearly a special day for our local Jewish community. There was a lovely happy spirit with everyone coming together showing their support by their overwhelming attendance. Special thanks are due to Centre Manager, Maxine Gordon and her amazing team - Jacquie, Jon and Tony - as well as their valued volunteers, for hosting such a wonderful festival. Thanks of course always go to the CST team for ensuring security and giving us their valuable time to help keep us safe. Look out for an announcement of next year’s Sussex Jewish Arts Festival and if you want to get involved, book your place and exhibit your art, craft and photography, simply email us at rallihallcentre@gmail.com 17 ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 18 Ralli Hall Community News 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com 1 Chairman’s Welcome by Roger Abrahams I am very happy with the new format for Ralli Hall There are a number of other community events and Community News, thanks to Maxine Gordon and Gary activities in the offing and I will repeat our commitment Weston. In future, much of the day-to-day information that B&HJCF at Ralli Hall will endeavour to provide about Ralli Hall will be included in the Manager’s accommodation for such events without cost to Message, leaving me to report mainly on other matters. the recipients, apart from extra caretaking and the Irit and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary that provision of security. weekend, and were therefore unable to attend the We are currently busy updating the lower ground magnificent Ralli Hall Jewish Arts Festival 2019, held floor accommodation so as to help us to increase in collaboration with the Sussex Jewish Arts Society. our income and to allow us to offer our core Apparently over 200 people attended and over 50 accommodation to the community, as mentioned exhibitors took part, filling the Great Hall, the Magrill above. We are fortunate that the size, layout and Lounge and the Café/Lounge too. This community condition of the building and its construction, is helping activity took a great deal of organisation and work, in these enterprises. thanks mainly to the above two, with the help of a number of enthusiastic volunteers, especially Rochelle Oberman, the Chair of the Jewish Arts Society, as well as the other members of Ralli Hall staff and I hope that it will be the first of many more such festivals. It is now not long until this year’s High Holy Days, so I should like to wish all of my readers Shana Tovah and Well over the Fast. See you at Ralli Hall. Manager’s Message by Maxine Gordon Wow, what a busy time we’re having! We’ve just got our We will be starting breath back from organising our first, very successful the evening at 6.30 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival, but I’ll let you enjoy pm with Wursht and reading about that in the featured article elsewhere in Scrambled Eggs, this edition. Chips, Beans and In the meantime, I’m delighted to tell you about our next event which will be the Jewish Film Club on Sunday 6 October, featuring a great film released in 2018. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is based on a true story and stars Melissa McCarthy who was nominated Challah, or you can just come and enjoy the film at 7.30 pm with refreshments provided. for this role as Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Friends of Ralli Hall: The film was also featured at a recent Jewish Film Festival, and tells the story of Lee Israel, an author who can barely pay her bills in 1990s New York. Desperate Film free/Food £11, Non-Members: Film £5.00/Food £11.00. for money, she hatches a scheme to forge letters Please call or email by famous writers and sells them to bookstores and our office for more collectors. However, the dealers start to catch on and information, or to Lee recruits a dubious friend (Richard E Grant) to help book your food and her continue her trickery and deceit. tickets! Quiz Night - Sunday 17 November Taking control as Quiz Master will be our very own or feel free to bring your own snacks or wine if you Steve Walker, who promises to give us a varied, fancy a glass. (Vegetarian or Kosher please). challenging and interesting quiz that everyone can enjoy. You don’t have to be Einstein, but he’s sure to stretch your grey matter at some point. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 Tickets must be booked in advance by calling or emailing the Ralli Hall Office: Starting at 7.15 pm, teams are a maximum of 8 or we’re happy to make up a table for you if needed. Friends of Ralli Hall £5.00 pp or Non-Members £7.50 pp Tea, coffee, soft drinks and cakes will be available Parking only £2.25 at Hove Station Jewish Historical Society Programme 2019-2020 by Michael Crook The Sussex branch of the Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) is pleased to announce its programme of talks from October 2019 to May 2020. Details are shown below, and we hope that the varied and interesting subjects will have wide appeal. Our first speaker for the new session on 29 October, Dr Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti, Lecturer in Italian Studies at UCL, will talk about the dilemmas of Jews in Italy in the 19th Century. From 10 November to 12 November, we have been able to secure a special exhibition at Ralli Hall. The Jews of South East England covers 13 Jewish communities including Brighton & Hove, as well as Dover, Canterbury, Guildford and Bletchley Park and has been made available to us by Oxford Chabad with support from the Sussex Jewish Representative Council and Ralli Hall. The exhibition will be open from 11.00am to 3.00pm on Sunday 10 and Tuesday 12, and from 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm on Monday 11. Entry is free, no booking required. Our speakers resume on 26 November with Lola Fraser, the London Administrator for British Jews in The First World War – We Were There, who will speak on a further aspect of World War 1 history, the story of Jewish Nurses. Our Favourite Things by Wendy Lovegrove On 28 January 2020 Rabbi Hershel Rader of Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation will speak on Weights and Measures in Biblical Times. On 25 February Professor Suzanne Kord of the School of European Languages, Culture and Society at UCL will speak on The Court of Public Opinion: Jews in Court and Press Coverage in Austria before the First v. Second World War. During Jewish History Month we will be holding a joint event with the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at The Keep. Date and details will follow in due course. Finally, on 5 May Vivi Lacks, a translation fellow at the Yiddish Book Centre and Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, London will speak on Whitechapel Noise: Politics, Sex and Religion in London’s East End 1884-1914. Please join us at Ralli Hall on the Tuesdays shown above. Meetings begin at 7.45 pm sharp, and we aim to end with light refreshments about 9.00 pm. Meetings are free to JHSE members and students, we make a charge of £5.00 for non-members. For further information, please contact me on 01273 776539, or at amcrook321@gmail.com Top Hat Productions has just done its fourth show, Our Favourite Things. The idea was to put on a simple cabaret production in which the cast got to choose a number they had always wanted to sing plus a few chorus numbers and all this with a super bagel supper provided by The Lunch and Social Club. It was a win- win situation, we all got to sing something we loved and helped to support the Lunch Club, which provides so much for the community. Ralli Hall has been very supportive of our endeavours and we are happy to bring people in through the Community Centre doors and hope they walk out with a lighter step. The show seemed to go down really well and we were so sorry we only gave one performance that we have decided to give a repeat show on the 24th November 2019 but this time with a cream tea. Exciting times. Musically speaking the final programme was a great meld of pop, classical, folk and Motown. Indeed, something for everyone. For those of you who didn’t make it to the show in June, we hope you’ll think of coming in November and we are sure there will be plenty of songs you’ll love. Culture 19 ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 20 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 2 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Elul – The Month of Preparation by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah This year, the month of September corresponds exactly with for us to examine our deeds of the past year and resolve the Hebrew month of Elul that precedes the yamim nora’im to restore our relationships. By the time Rosh Ha-Shanah – the ‘days of awe’. Traditionally, Elul is the time when we arrives, there is so little time to make amends – just ten days prepare ourselves for the aseret y’mei t’shuvah, the ‘ten days in all. How much more sensible to begin the process in Elul. of return’ that begin on Rosh Ha-Shanah and conclude on There is an interesting difference between Sephardi and Yom Kippur. Ashkenazi practice in this regard. In the Sephardi tradition, it What does it mean, to prepare ourselves? There are four synagogues in Brighton and Hove, and in each one, rabbis will be writing their sermons, lay readers will be practising the prayers and choirs will be rehearsing the wonderful melodies that accompany us on the most sacred journey of the Jewish year. In S.Y. Agnon’s marvellous anthology, Days of Awe, we find this story (Schocken Books, New York, 1965, p. 38): ‘A tale is told of one who sat in study before the zaddik Rabbi Mordecai of Nadvorna, of blessed memory [19th cent.], and before Rosh Ha-Shanah came to obtain permission to be dismissed. That zaddik said to him, “Why are you hurrying?” Said he to him, “I am a Reader, and I must look into the festival prayer book, and put my prayers in order.” Said the zaddik to him, “The prayer book is the same as it was last year. But it would be better for you to look into your deeds, and put yourself in order”.’ is customary to recite prayers for s’lichot, ‘forgiveness’, and blow the shofar (ram’s horn) at the end of shacharit (morning prayer) from Rosh Chodesh (the new moon of) Elul until the eve of Rosh Ha-Shanah. In the Ashkenazi tradition, s’lichot prayers and the blowing of the shofar begin from midnight on the Saturday prior to Rosh Ha-Shanah – unless there are, as this year, less than four days between Saturday night and the New Year, in which case, the ritual is put back a week. Most Jews in Britain are Ashkenazi, and all four synagogues in Brighton and Hove follow the Ashkenazi tradition. But let’s not wait until the Saturday night of 21 September to begin our journey of t’shuvah, ‘return’. As we read in another gem from S.Y. Agnon’s anthology (p.25) – taken from the Maharil (‘Our Teacher, the Rabbi Ya’akov Levi’ Moelin, c. 1365-1427): “All the month of Elul before eating and sleeping let every person look into their soul, and search their deeds, that they may make confession”. This tale reminds us of the purpose of the yamim nora’im and L’shanah tovah! the unique opportunity that the month of the Elul provides Events@BHPS Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group From 3 Sept 2019 the monthly interfaith prayer meeting which takes place on the first Tuesday of the month at 7.30 pm will be held at BHPS. All welcome, of any faith or none. Please note there will be no meeting in October. The Tree of Life: Celebrating Together Sunday 8 September, 2 – 6pm at BHPS Free entry, all welcome. Please register in advance via members@ interfaithcontactgroup.com In response to recent terrorist assaults against Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities, the Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group is bringing together community groups across Brighton and Hove to express solidarity with synagogues, mosques and churches across the world that have been attacked during the past year and to explore the positive images associated with the Tree of Life in different faith traditions. The afternoon will include commemoration of all those killed in terrorist attacks. We will also celebrate the work of many within our own community who work tirelessly to help people thrive together. Sunday 15 September 12 pm Robert Rinder TV judge, Strictly contestant and barrister, Robert Rinder is coming to speak at BHPS on Fame, Fortune & Fans. £15 for members and BHPS friends / £20 for non-members. Includes brunch, tea and cake. Tickets from Sarah Winstone on 07841 488620 or sarah. winstone@ntlworld.com Autumn Festival Services led by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Slichot Saturday 21 September, 8.00 pm Havdalah and refreshments. Study session ‘T’Shuvah & T’fillah & Tz’dakah’ Repentance & Prayer & Righteous Deeds – what’s the connection?, 9.00 pm, 10.30 pm Service. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 Erev Rosh Ha’Shanah Sunday 29 September, 7.30 pm Rosh Ha’Shanah Monday 30 September 10.30 am, Family Service 2.00 pm, 3.30 pm Tashlich on the beach opposite Lansdowne Place Shabbat Shuvah Saturday 5 October 10.30 am, Czech Scroll Memorial Service Kol Nidrei Tuesday 8 October 7.30 pm Yom Kippur Wednesday 9 October Services 10.30 am – 7.07 pm Followed by BreakFast (£15) Erev Sukkot Sunday 13 October (ask at office for venue) Sukkot Lunch – Wednesday 16 October noon, during Open Wednesday Erev Simchat Torah – Sunday 20 October 6.30 pm Non Member tickets £60, available from the office. Exploring Judaism – led by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Classes recommence on 7 September and cover the Autumn Festivals. Classes are held on Shabbat from 2.15-3.45pm, after the Access to Hebrew class (1-2pm). All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273 737223. BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org www.facebook.com/BrightonReform BrightonReform The Sound of the Shofar by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo 21 Have you ever tried to blow the Shofar? The first time is tricky. If it is a short one, Sephardi, you blow with all the air you have in your lungs, and what you hear is just like a gust of wind. It if is a long one, Ashkenazi, you hear a vibrating rumour, but certainly not the deep moving sound we are accustomed to. The trick is you need to ‘blow a raspberry’, like a child does when mocking friends or parents! When I visit schools to explain Judaism and its rituals, I often take a Shofar. I start by’ blowing a raspberry’, and then I place the Shofar on my lips. When the sound of the Shofar begins to be heard the expressions on the faces of the children, turn from amusement to awe. It is indeed a remarkable transformation. The most childish and irreverent buzz becomes a deep and inspiring sound. The Shofar inspires awe. It invites you to the teshuvah, to focus on our moral standards and our failures to live according to them. In Ancient Israel the Shofar was a battle cry; the call to soldiers to be ready for military action. Nowadays, the sound of the Shofar demands from us similar attention and concentration, but not in the military sense. Rather than fighting external enemies, who are generally easy to identify, today we fight against our complacency and spiritual laziness. It is a battle that demands a level of sincerity and humility; that is difficult to achieve. The sound of the Shofar resonates in us, touches us very deeply and motivates us to this difficult effort. The Rabbis teach that every seminal moment of Jewish history is accompanied by the sound of the Shofar. The Revelation on Sinai, when the Torah was given to Moses and to the people of Israel, was accompanied by the sound of the Shofar. The sound of many Shofars was heard during the destruction of the Temple, while the last troops were trying to defend Jerusalem. Mystical thinkers teach that the advent of the Messianic Age will be heralded by the sound of the Shofar. Tuesdays & Thursdays Ulpan, 7.00pm Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 am Events Sunday 8 Cheder new term (not Kitah Gan), 9.50 am Sunday 15 Kitah Gan new term, 9.50 am Sunday 22 Selichot Service, 6.30 pm Sunday 29 Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 6.30 pm Monday 30 Rosh Hashanah Service, 10.00 am Tashlich - meet at Shul, 5.00 pm 2nd night Rosh Hashanah Service - followed by Seder, 6.30 pm The Revelation on Sinai, the destruction of the Temple, the beginning of the Messianic Age are all moments of Jewish history that we remember every day in our prayers. The Shofar has an impact on the life of individual Jews as well on the Jewish people collectively. Like each year, while Rosh Hashanah approaches, and we look forward to hearing the sound of the Shofar once again, we think of what we have achieved in the previous months and how can we do better, from a spiritual point of view. The process of teshuvah, when it is properly done, can have an effect on ourselves but also on our Jewish community, on the Jewish collective. Those Jews who have gone through the process of teshuvah, who have become more committed members of our community and more loyal to our heritage, have a transformative impact on the whole Jewish people and certainly on the Jewish community where they live. May we all have the strength to achieve such a wonderful transformation. May the sound of the Shofar this year mark the beginning of a time of unity and reciprocal support for all the members of our community. Otherwise... it will be just be a raspberry! Bulletin Board – September ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 22 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 2 Here Comes the Judge by Rabbi Hershel Rader A civilised society requires a system of justice and ‘righteous resolution to ‘do better’ in the future. But here’s the rub. How judges’ to rule on matters of law. One of the Seven Noachide truthful and accurate is our own self judgement? Are we able Laws that apply to all human beings is to set up a system to look at ourselves objectively and repent with true sincerity, of justice. The first Sidra of this month is called Shoftim or does our ‘self-love’ bribe us and distort our vision? – Judges - and deals with the appointment of judges for the Israelites. The judges are told ‘do not take bribes, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise’. Even the wisest of us are not immune to bribery. This doesn’t mean that the judge who receives a bribe makes a conscious decision to reward the briber, thinking to himself ‘well, he has given me something.... I will do something for him in return’. No, it’s much more subtle. He regards the bribe as a gift and it induces a subconscious feeling of goodwill towards the benefactor. The perspective of the judge becomes distorted and, unknowingly, he favours the person who has been so good to him. Hence the Torah’s words ‘blinds the eyes of the wise’; the wise judge does not see what he is doing. There is, in fact, a significant difference between earthly judges of flesh and blood and the Heavenly Judge. If a defendant is found guilty in the earthly court, then there’s really not much room for clemency on the part of the judge. The law is the law and must take its course. The accused may shed rivers of tears, but no human judge can be certain if his remorse is genuine. His feelings of regret are touching but of limited legal consequence. After all, a human judge may only make a decision based on ‘what the eye can see’. The misdeed was seen to have been committed. The remorse; who knows? Perhaps the defendant is a good actor! But the Supreme Judge does know whether the accused genuinely regrets his actions or is merely putting on an act. Therefore, ‘Love is blind’ goes the saying. We do not notice the failings He alone is able to forgive. That is why in the heavenly and shortcomings of those we love, once again, our vision judgment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Teshuva becomes distorted. This is part of the reason that one may (repentance) is effective. The flip side of this is that we not sit in judgement over a relative; the judgement could can’t fool the Heavenly Judge, He knows what we are really easily be biased and if it isn’t, people will suspect that it is. thinking and feeling. At the end of the month we will gather in Shul for Rosh As we approach the New Year, this is our greatest challenge; Hashanah - the Day of Judgement – a time when G-d sits to truly know ourselves and translate that self-knowledge into in judgement over us and, even if we haven’t been so good an honest resolve for good in the coming year - a resolve that over the past year, is ready to accept our repentance and the true and Incorruptible Judge is unable to ignore. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 23 HHC Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 Email: hollandroadshul@btconnect.com www.hollandroadshul.com Allegiance/ Identity/ Solidarity by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer With the onset of the ‘High Holy Days’ this month, We make Havdalah once a week at the termination beginning with the Festival of Rosh Hashanah and the of the Sabbath, which reinforces a deeply rooted ever-approaching Brexit next month, Jews all over the separatist ideology; we have Rosh Chodesh once UK will hopefully be asking themselves certain pertinent a month which immediately singles us out as an questions. exclusive nation within the first phrase of its specific, These days of awe are available to us for a generous dose of sincere reflection, correction and new resolution. I am sure that you have all heard the classical rhetoric year-in-year-out. I will therefore save you from the sermonic auto-pilot monologue. What does come to the surface and must surely be pondered are serious questions of loyalty, attachment and affiliation. silent and pensive Musaf prayer. And of course, this month we have Rosh Hashanah which is synonymous with the horn of a ram, the Shofar. May I emphatically point out that the Shofar is not simply a cultural condiment as some would superficially like to portray, but a direct reference to the ‘Binding of Isaac’ when a ram was substituted to be sacrificed in his place. It has unique meaning to the Children of Jacob (Isaac’s son) and its haunting summons functions throughout our On reading well-researched historical accounts of religion, from the proclamation of the Jubilee year (The British Jewry and the Rabbinate (may I recommend Yovel) to the very Biblical Mitzvah (Commandment) of ‘Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, The Forgotten hearing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah when we are all Founder’ by Derek Taylor), it becomes abundantly clear obliged to hear a minimum of thirty blasts. that the English Jew is something of a misnomer, let alone anomaly. For British Jewry stems predominantly if not exclusively, from either Ashkenazi European roots or Sephardic heritage of Spanish/Portuguese descent or more recently, Middle Eastern or North African origin. None of these categories lend themselves easily, without concerted effort, to smooth integration within what was once-upon-a-time considered to be English civility. The English Jew, who was the perfect Englishman in public, yet the swaying and bobbing Jew in Synagogue on the Sabbath, was something of a new invention in Victorian England. Moreover, dual loyalties, or even duplicit loyalty, is an accusation that has often been levelled against Jews by our detractors since time immemorial. They perniciously claim that Jews are fundamentally and systematically disloyal to their country of domicile because they harbour a deeply rooted commitment to and solidarity for the Land of their forefathers, i.e. their homeland, Israel. Irrespective of ones’ personal opinions regarding the policies of the modern State of Israel, it would be far-stretched to find a Jew who feels detached from the strip of Land sworn to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Some might Today, with the growing integration of diverse agree with this sentiment but most Jews and non-Jews nationalities and race within our society, many of these alike, would be most offended by this and consider it demarcations no longer exist and perhaps we are blatantly racist. better off for it (although I am aware that there are those who argue otherwise). However, what is abundantly apparent with Brexit looming (and this is not necessarily novel or profound, but important all-the-same), is the necessity for open and frank debate on the legitimacy for creating a separate Island devoid of its commitment to mainland Europe. Does this lead to integration? Do we want multi-cultural integration and are these sentiments reciprocal? On Rabbinical reflection, are we not called upon to create a little piece of heaven on earth, to usher-in and urge-on the golden Messianic era that is promised to us by our Prophets of yore, with a slice of universal brotherhood to add? Is it truly all about the fluctuation of Sterling, the dip in markets and the devaluation of property that grabs our interest in Brexit, or is there something much larger and pervasively sinister at play which leads to division, suspicion and ultimately, Leaving the pure economics aside, does separatism hatred of the other. Judaism does not shy away from lead to an enhancement of the human spirit that is difference and at times most definitely celebrates common to all mankind? Rosh Hashanah is, after all, separation, but not at the expense of nationalistic a New Year for all of humanity, not just the Jewish bigotry or racial isolation, which I feel might just creep nation. I have met several highly intelligent and socially in to our lot as a society if we sleep our way through aware Jewish people who have struggled with these this season. overlapping and often contradictory identities for all of their adult lives. This is at least how they perceive it to be and may or may not resonate with some of our Sincerely wishing you a Shana Tova Um’Tuka, full of soulful illumination and joy for 5780. readers. ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 24 What’s on: September 2019 IMPORTANT INFORMATION Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE 2 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. RD, HOVE Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR In Light candles Out Havdalah EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER Sunday 1 Middle Street Synagogue Open 2.00 – 4.00 pm free entry - suggested donation £2.00. Exhibitions: Middle Street Synagogue: Harif - ‘The Jews of the Middle East at Middle Street’. Orna Schneerson Pascal recent paintings Thursday 5 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Littlehampton Golf course (postponed from August). For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com Friday 6 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the October/November 2019 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org Thursday 12 Lunch & Social Club at Ralli Hall Margaret and Mark are giving a talk about their recent trip to Israel Sunday 15 Lunch & Social Club at Ralli Hall Card Afternoon and Tea 2.30 – 5.30 pm. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove £10 pp Sunday 15 at 12.00 pm TV judge, Strictly contestant and barrister, Robert Rinder will speak at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue (BHPS) on Fame, Fortune & Fans. £15 for BHPS members and BHPS friends / £20 for non- members. The talk is preceded by brunch- and followed by tea and cake. Info & Tickets available from sarah.winstone@netlworld.com or https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/robert-rinder-talk-and-brunch-tickets- 65412517601?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete Middle Street Synagogue Heritage Open Day - Open 2.00 – 4.00 pm. Free entry – suggested donation £2.00 Wednesday 18 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Nevill Golf Course, near Tunbridge Wells. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at ashley@sportscastnet.com Middle Street Synagogue Vidal Sassoon: The Movie (PG) - film event. £12 on the door or £10 in advance through Eventbrite.co.uk Middle Street Synagogue Exhibitions: Harif - ‘The Jews of the Middle East at Middle Street’. Orna Schneerson Pascal recent paintings Sunday 22 Middle Street Synagogue Heritage Open Day - Open 2.00 – 4.00 pm. Free entry – suggested donation £2.00 ISSUE 300 | SEPTEMBER 2019 ACTIVITIES Please taking place. check with the organisations to be sure of the events Fri 6 7.18 pm Sat 7 8.24 pm Fri 13 7.02 pm Sat 14 8.07 pm Fri 20 6.46 pm Sat 21 7.51 pm Fri 27 6.30 pm Sat 28 7.35 pm SPECIAL DATES Sunday 29 Erev Rosh Hashanah - light candles 6.26 pm Monday 30 First Day Rosh Hashanah, Tashlich, - light candles after 7.30 pm Please note that our next issue will be October/November 2019. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 6 September 2019. Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, first Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the L&SC@RH. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, fourth Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, second Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 -
Issue 299
August 2019
what’s InsIdE... LIthuanIa | RaLLI haLL COMMunItY PagE | sussEX JEwIsh REPREsEntatIVE COunCIL nEws | what’s On | and MOREsussEX JEwIsh nEws august 2019 • taMMuZ - aV 5779 • IssuE 299 Whats 2 Community Spotlight Great Jewish Bake Day at Hyman Fine by Naomi Creeger Baking is no stranger to us here at Hyman Fine. Every memories for us. Jenny Goldberg said, “When you walk Monday morning we get together in the Cookery Club in everything smells like a bakery. The smells linger for and sieve, whisk, roll, beat and produce delicious cakes ages, and as you get further away they get fainter and and biscuits, which we fainter”. Mache’ Goffe then proceed to eat with said, “We used to live relish. in Egypt so my mother But early July is a special time for the cooks here. Every year we plan, shop and dust off our aprons for the Great Jewish Bake Day. This time we made a kind of cake called chebakia with honey and almonds. It was delicious. Baking brings back those special memories of childhood for me”. decided, after lengthy Then, on to the best deliberation, to rustle up part of the Great a Victoria Sponge (200 Jewish Bake Day. What years after her birth) and could be nicer than a as it is Wimbledon time, slice of freshly baked a strawberry and cream homemade cake with filling would be apt. a nice cup of tea in the Of course, baking brings back a world of company of friends? Perfection! EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. issue 299 | august 2019 Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt communities, contacts and more. Delivered at the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com the Jewish community across the region. COVER IMAGE Michael Coppins PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 AUGUST 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 THE WINDOWS AT BHRS Cover image by Michael Coppins 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT ON... Hyman Fine House 6 SUSSEX JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL What they’ve been up to 8 RALLI HALL COMMUNITY NEWS Activities in your future 9 LITHUANIA A visit beyond The Pale REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 12 CULTURE Rembrandt’s Jewish Bride, Gil Hovav, Inventing Hope and more 20 WHAT’S ON – AUGUST Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 16 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 17 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 18 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 19 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 3 Contents MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 • accept advertisements and announcements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements or announcements; Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by Flyers: £40 per Flyer email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 299 | august 2019 4 Sussex and the City Your News Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and into The David Goldman Achievements Congratulations to Adam Firsht who has won 4 Gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals in the 8oo metres race at various venues, both in the South of England, and Programme for Outstanding Young Musicians at The Jerusalem Centre (Mishkenot Shaananim). the regions. He next appears in the final national Championship in Birmingham on 20th July. Mazel tov to Charlie Brown, granddaughter of June Jackson on a BA Hons Degree in Engagement Mazel tov to June Jackson on the engagement of her grandson Alon to Noa Amichay in Israel. Archeology from the University of Reading. Mazel tov to Danielle Markham, granddaughter of Barbara Isaacs on a Wedding Mazel tov to Jacqueline Tichauer on the marriage of her daughter Tamara to Daniel Lousqui which took place on 16 June 2019 in Israel. 1st Class BSc Hons Degree in Psychology Get Well from the University of Roehampton. We wish a refuah sheleimah to Sam Barsam, Helen Epstein, Rabbi Charles Wallach and all who are in Mazel tov to Daniel Rosenthal, grandson of Doris hospital or unwell at the present time. Levinson on his BSc Hons Degree in Environmental Geography from the University of East Anglia. Deaths Mazel tov to violinist Nitzan Temerlies, granddaughter of June & Laurence, on her acceptance into the Young We wish Long Life to Roger Berlin and family on the death of his wife Lilian z’l. Your Views I can see that SJN has become a fantastic mine of information. PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR SJN NEW YEAR GREETINGS Geoffrey Wolf, Stanmore Many thanks for this (pdf of the July issue). I so enjoy reading the SJN - not that I have the print copy - what a lovely picture on the front cover. I don’t suppose I will ever get used to reading things on the computer. Best wishes to all for yet another excellent magazine, Shirley Jaffe August will be the busiest month in our golfing calendar. We have matches against Coombe Hill Golf Club in Surrey and Abridge Golf and Country Club at our home course, The Dyke. We will also be sending a team to Dyrham Park Country Club in Barnet for the Seniors’ Tournament which is organised by the Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies. We will be hoping to repeat our success as winners of the Tri-Nations trophy, our annual match held at a course in Berkshire against Jewish golf societies from South Wales and Bournemouth. This year we have invited a “UK and Ireland” team to play in the match, so issue 299 | august 2019 We’re on our way From September, the Torah Montessori Nursery is delighted to share with you the great news that our outstanding nursery will be relocating to our newly refurbished home at The Upper Drive, Hove. For more information call 07834 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society 669181 by Richard Simmons we will have to think of a new name for the trophy! Our Society meeting on 14 August will be at the links course at Littlehampton. This is the only golf course in Sussex that replicates the testing conditions of the Open Championship and is very popular with our members. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@ sportscastnet.com Sussex and the City The Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall by Jacquie Tichauer The weather is amazing, and I am sure this makes everyone feel much happier. I am just back from my daughter’s wedding in Israel, which was out of this world. I would like to thank my volunteers for working so hard when I was away: this is much appreciated. We have just had our Cabaret and Bagel supper with Top Hats which was a great success with wonderful singing and lovely food. A lot of hard work was put into this evening with Top Hats practising very hard for many weeks at Ralli Hall. A huge Thank You goes to Laura Sharpe, who was working with both Top Hats and The Lunch and Social Club. Many thanks go to my lovely volunteers Vivienne, Linden, Beverly, Marilyn, John and Melanie, Hilary and Sandra who were a great help on the day. We would also like to thank Ralli Hall for providing the venue free of charge for all rehearsals and the evening. 5 We were entertained by the Silver Strings Orchestra on 2 July at lunchtime which was very enjoyable, and we hope to have more entertainment like this in the future. A few years ago, we had bridge classes in which Robert Blass and Malcolm Lasky, with their partners, came to learn at the lunch club. We are very grateful that they are coming back to play bridge now with our members. Janet Cowan is also available to play when we give her a call. On the first Thursday in the month JACS join us for lunch and a talk, which is enjoyed by all members. On Shabbat 6 July, a young man, visiting from New York, came into Holland Road Shul. He said that his visit to Brighton would not be complete without coming to Holland Road. Last time he was here he had had a conversation with Rabbi Vivian Silverman. The young man is Jason Grant Shela, MBE (Director of Athletic Education). Born and raised in London, Jason has been a community youth leader and sports educator for over 30 years, developing sports and arts programmes in London and New York. Jason was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2019 for his dedicated service to youth soccer education and pioneering work creating programmes for youth with disabilities. Jason founded The British Soccer Academy, which has become one of the largest youth sports programmes in New York City and was voted PSAA High School Coach of the year by his peers. Jason led the Hunter Middle School boys and girls’ team to the NYC Public School City Championship and multiple Uptown City Championships. He also created The Soccer Goodwill Festival aimed Forthcoming attractions include a BBQ on Wednesday 10 July at the Hyman Fine home. On Thursday 12 September Margaret and Mark are giving a talk about their recent trip to Israel, and on Sunday 15 September Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club will hold a Card Afternoon at £10 a ticket. 1 November - 4 November we are having our Eastbourne weekend. If you have any free time, we are looking for afternoon helpers. Please give me a call. I can be contacted by telephone on 01273 739999 or by email at ralliday@tiscali. co.uk at building links between players, their families and the wider community. He has developed a transformative soccer programme for children with special needs across the spectrum. Jason also coaches the University of Mississippi Rugby Team and is the founder of the Youth Enrichment international Think Tank, which focuses on sports and arts community programme development. Naturally, he was given an aliyah and was made very welcome. An interesting visitor to Holland Road Shul - Jason Grant Shela MBE by Michael Phillips issue 299 | august 2019 6 Sussex Jewish Representative Council Jewish Community Help by Beryl Sharpe and Sarah Wilks SJRC feel very strongly that our community can rough. Since then, and after taking advice, we now give and should do something to help homeless and your donations to organisations which are specifically underprivileged men and women in the wider set up to help such people in Brighton & Hove. community. Three of them have written articles for us which we We have been doing this by asking our community hope will give you an understanding of our ongoing members to donate goods which we then distribute. project and of the work they do. Our first appeal for donations was in November At the moment we are regularly contributing to both 2018. From then on, we have been overwhelmed by One Church and the Oasis Women’s Project and every the kindness of our community as donated items month we provide desserts and newspapers for All have continued to flood in. We are so grateful for the Saints Church, where lunch is prepared for over 60 generosity of Steve and Simon at ODM, who allow us homeless people. to use their showroom both as a drop off point and for storage facilities. Also, with the help of our wonderful volunteers, who deliver your donations, we have been able to make regular journeys to various organisations in the city. This is something we would like to continue and we hope that you will help us. We will be sending out a separate email with a “shopping list”. So please, when you next go shopping, pick up something from the list and drop it into our collection point. When we started this project, we drove around the streets giving out bags to homeless people sleeping Your donations make a big difference All Saints Church This year the Sussex Jewish Representative Council has partnered with All Saints Church to provide toiletries, food and comfort to our local homeless community. Since 2013, All Saints has organised a monthly Caritas lunch for people who are homeless or vulnerably housed and for those who feel excluded or on the periphery of society. It has also been a part of the Churches Night Shelter, providing a bed and meal throughout the Winter for 15 homeless guests. The toiletries and puddings donated by Beryl, Sarah and the Jewish community, have given invaluable home comforts to our guests and been the start of what we hope will be a flourishing relationship between our communities, where we can work together to combat homelessness with the resources we can provide. Brighton and Hove currently has the highest national rate of homelessness outside London, with homelessness all over Britain increasing by 134% since 2008. According to Shelter, 1 in every 69 people in Brighton and Hove is experiencing some form of homelessness. So, we’re facing a real problem, for real people and not just statistics. All Saints currently has an average of around 60 guests coming to the Caritas lunch each month but that can reach up to 90 in the winter months. As well as providing a good quality hot meal, cooked by an amazing team of volunteers on site, we also give people a chance to relax. We provide hot drinks and our guests have a chance, to chat, to read the papers or just to be quiet. In our hectic world, we all know how valuable that can be. issue 299 | august 2019 We have a great team of around 40 volunteers who support our lunches; some help every month, some just when they can, but every person brings something important to the team and more importantly, to the guests, sharing both the meal, conversations and companionship with them. It is our hope to invite members of the Jewish community to join our volunteer base too. We have recently started inviting various organisations to visit us at the lunches with the hope of building local partnerships and offering a broader range of services for our guests, such as hairdressers and barbers. Last month we had a visit from the fantastic Choir with No Name, which runs homeless choirs up and down the country to create a singing workshop with our guests. It is our hope to eventually be able to signpost next steps and to provide services that not only bring comfort, but can encourage the beginnings of self-esteem and self- sufficiency. Caritas means the love of humankind and it has been an absolute pleasure to join forces with Beryl and Sarah to see how we can best show that love to our local community. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. Brighton Oasis Project Brighton Oasis Project has 21 years’ experience problems. The truth is that problems with drugs and working with women with drug and alcohol problems alcohol are widespread and affect all sorts of people and providing support for children and families who are regardless of their background. They are most often affected by substance misuse. The project has grown the manifestation of deeper issues. We directly support to become one of the most recognised substance over 750 women and 200 children each year. misuse services in the South East, whilst remaining true to the original vision of addressing inequality in access to treatment. With its HQ in Brighton city centre and additional bases in Eastbourne and Hastings, we provide a range of recovery-focused treatment services to support and empower women, who have difficulties with drink or drugs, to make positive changes in their lives. Our portfolio includes services for women working in the sex industry, women offenders, women with multiple and complex needs and young women with alcohol problems. We also provide services for children and young people affected by substance misuse in the family. Our aim is to create opportunity, instil hope, nurture courage and restore personal belief in what Voices in Exile Our annual running costs are currently in excess of £1million and we rely heavily on public fundraising and donations. The ongoing support we receive from the Brighton & Hove Jewish community means a great deal to us. The women we work with tell us that your kindness really touched their hearts. Receiving donations of toiletries from your community means that we can continue to promote self-care among our clients who are vulnerable and are in financial situations. Your donations of refreshments also help us provide snacks and drinks in our support group. This means that we can offer a welcoming and caring environment for our clients. is possible and achievable for women, children and As Oasis is a relatively small charity, your ongoing families. support provides us with the platform we need It can suit some people to think that drug and alcohol problems affect a small amount of people or that the people affected are to blame for their own to continue delivering our services for the local community. Thank you so much on behalf of everyone at Oasis Project. Thanks again for your contributions to Voices in Exile. Your donations are always extremely generous and thoughtfully put together. The variety of toiletries we receive from you are more than we would usually be able to offer and create a lot of excitement. Luxuries like the hand creams, lip balm and shaving foam go down very well. We’ve also previously received some gift boxes from the children at the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue - all beautifully decorated during their Mitzvah Day activities. Voices in Exile works with refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants, with no recourse to public funds, in East and West Sussex and Surrey. We offer practical and legal support including generalist advice and specialist immigration casework for those who would otherwise be unable to access justice. As part of our programme of services we also offer a weekly food bank and limited hardship fund provided through the British Red Cross. Together these services aim to provide immediate relief to those most vulnerable, whilst also tackling the long- term causes of destitution. Given the government’s ‘hostile environment’ policy towards irregular migrants and lack of free immigration advice in the area, the service provided by Voices is unique but like many small charities, our success is very much reliant on the generosity and kindness of the community groups, such as the Sussex Jewish community, that give us so much and help us make our project a success. Since the start of the year we have seen a significant increase in the number of people who are in need of food parcels, so your donations are needed more now than ever. We are always in need of food and toiletries on a weekly basis so just to say a big thank you for all the donations. Thanks again for your continued support. Stewart, Stephen and the rest of the Voices team. Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 7 issue 299 | august 2019 8 Ralli Hall Community News Chairman’s Welcome by Roger Abrahams First, I would like to thank our Centre Manager, Maxine Gordon, for filling in for me over the last few months when I was away. We are fortunate that with the help of an excellent team and the income from our independent commercial lettings in the self-contained areas of the lower ground and first floors of the building, that we are in a far stronger financial position, and able to offer help to our local, Jewish community. Being ‘neutral territory’, we have been able to provide our venue to many groups and organisations - in most cases, unless of a purely commercial nature, the facilities have been provided without any cost whatsoever to the recipients, apart from extra caretaking and the provision of security. We have recently held our own very successful Barn Dance and intend to arrange further such events during the course of each year. In the meantime, Top Hats held an excellent concert in conjunction with the Lunch & Social Club, and since then we have hosted “Hebrew, Humus & the Holy Land”, a fascinating talk by the great-grandson of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the reviver of Hebrew as a spoken language, organised by BNJC. We were delighted to be able to offer the facilities of our venue to both organisations, free of charge. Manager’s Welcome by Maxine Gordon issue 299 | august 2019 Finally, we have just held our AGM, when Alan Burke was made a Life President (jointly with Julian Woolfe), Philip Simons stepped into Alan’s shoes, as Hon. Vice Chairman (Alan is continuing as a Committee member) & Lesley Walker stepped into Philip’s shoes, as Hon. Secretary. I would also confirm that all other members of our Board & Management Committee have renewed from last year and I thank them for their sterling work! See you at Ralli Hall. Community Centre Activities It’s been a very positive time for us recently, and I’m so lucky to have a great team to work with, who are as proud as I am to work in such a lovely by Maxine Gordon, Centre Manager venue as Ralli Hall. Welcome to Tony Knights who is already proving to be another great addition. Covering afternoons, evenings and weekends, he will be responsible for maintenance, improving facilities, setting up rooms and assisting customers. Jon Gaffikin, who works days, has been with us over 18 months now and in that short time has been instrumental in introducing many great improvements to the décor and electronics. It’s a pleasure to have them both around with their ‘can do’ approach and abundance of skills. In the office we’re supported by Jacquie Tichauer, our fabulous Accounts Administrator, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, who loves number- crunching and keeping everyone upbeat with her endless bouncy energy! Our team genuinely, really do enjoy working together, sharing the same high standards and above all we have masses of fun whilst doing so. With all our events to organise we will shortly be joined by another part- time administrator, whom we also look forward to welcoming into our madhouse. Supporting us ably in the background are our many long-term, loyal Committee Members and Executive Board who all hold their posts in a voluntary capacity. Giving us their valuable time, they advise, make suggestions and help everything run smoothly, and all for the love and belief in what Ralli Hall stands for. They are an invaluable asset to us, and I thank them all. We know we are fortunate to have such fabulous facilities to offer our community and we’re enjoying organising an array of events for you all. We hope you’ve been able to attend some of them, and whilst it’s hard to appeal to everyone, we always try to offer something for all age groups and different tastes. If there is anything you would particularly like, do call me and I will gladly look into it, but I can’t promise! In the meantime, enjoy the great weather and we hope to see you at our fabulous Film Club in August. Happy Summer Holidays. We have just held our very first Jewish Arts Festival organised by Ralli Hall, at Ralli Hall. This incredibly exciting initiative was the brainchild of Gary Weston, a member of our Committee, who was confident that there was an abundance of Jewish, artistic talent in the area. We’ve always had an annual art exhibition organised by the Jewish Art Society but this year, along with their collaboration, Gary’s vision and our beautiful venue, I think the Festival has totally excelled all our expectations. I would personally like to thank him for his tremendous input into organising this amazing event, which we hope will be held on a yearly basis. If you fancy great food, a great movie and great company – why not join us on 18 August for our Jewish Film Club? Full details on page 15, and please remember that you need to book your food by the 8th - looking forward to seeing you all soon! See the advert on page 15 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com Features Lithuania – a pilgrimage to a lost past by Winston Pickett 9 Lithuania, Lithuania, Lithuania. Is it possible to obsess about a country and its Jewish history after a single visit? For this visitor, apparently so. In fact, it was a bit like a trip to the optician where the insertion of successive lenses enables you to see what’s in front of you as if for the first time. In May, I travelled to Lithuania with a gathering of approximately 20 members of the Dublin Jewish community, organised by Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, which coordinated the trip following discussions with the Lithuanian ambassador to Ireland. “There are more than 70,000 Lithuanians living in Ireland,” said Cohen. “One can only imagine what our grandparents would have thought about that.” While it was my first physical trip to Lithuania, mentally I had been travelling there for years. My tour guide: the late historian Yaffa Elliach’s There Once Was a World, a chronicle of 900 years of a town called Eishyshok. Elliach’s book took her 12 years to write and is as close as it gets to a living compendium of every possible aspect of shtetl life, built on oral history interviews, family photographs and diaries. It is saturated with stories, anecdotes and reflections of what life was like in a small but significant town on the crossroads between large metropolitan centres the likes of Vilnius, Warsaw and Krakow. Impossible to read in one go, every bite-sized chunk is an intimate time capsule into a world and civilisation that came to a brutal end during the Holocaust years. Our own trip promised to be something different, focusing on Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, as well as its historical capital of Kaunas. Separate trips were made available for members of the group who wanted to track down traces of their genealogical Jewish heritage. Our group was aided by the comprehensive guidance of our tour guide, Svetlana Shatalova, a blonde, diminutive and authoritative Jewish native of Vilnius who speaks five languages and warmly admits to the irony of her appearance and Russian name. But, as we will find out, this mixture is a microcosm of things to come and a reminder that both before and after WW2, Lithuania was under Soviet domination, achieving its independence only in 1990, even as it continues to come to grips with its Jewish past. Fortunately for the Jewish traveller it is a past that is never far away. In fact, it’s a past that seems to be memorialised everywhere – from the first street sign seen outside our hotel is emblazoned with a Magen David and a street sign announcing in Yiddish, Hebrew and Lithuanian that you’re on ‘Jew Street’ in the heart of the old Jewish Quarter and what would become evacuated and confined to one of two Jewish ghettoes during the war. It doesn’t take long to realise that every plaque and sign depicting any building, area and institution of any interest is lettered first in Yiddish, then Hebrew, occasionally Russian and Lithuanian – with English trailing behind. We’re thankful for Svetlana’s multilingualism. She is a reminder of how essential a tour guide is for being able to peel back the layers of this multidimensional city. By itself, on a warm spring day, Vilnius glows. It becomes easy to imagine why, once you’ve re-populated it in your mind with shopkeepers, musicians, Talmudists, art academies, schools, shuls, museums, Yiddish institutes and businesses why it was known as the “Jerusalem of Lithuania”. Vilnius was a constantly changing and adaptive melting pot that produced the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, Jacques Lipschitz, the Vilna Gaon, Max Weinrich and Menachem Begin, who was imprisoned by the Soviets in the 1930s in a fortress prison outside of town. Without that imaginary overlay, of course, Vilnius’s iridescence is the result of painstaking and loving municipal and historical restoration evidenced by immaculate (if sometimes tricky and narrow) cobblestoned streets, pastel-hued buildings and elegant shops that could grace any European city. Even the local ‘tourist’ emporia are full of aesthetically pleasing crafts and wares that range from elaborate pottery to clothing. A linen shop on the main square offering skirts, dresses and menswear with prices in Euros makes you wonder why you didn’t bring a larger suitcase. When dining out, scratch beneath the surface and it’s easy to find innovative, locally-sourced gourmet (including vegetarian and vegan) offerings that would not be out of place in foodie havens like Brighton and London. issue 299 | august 2019 10 Features 1 Such delights and oases of normality are a welcome turn, pinned their misery on the Jewish/Bolshevik fifth-column antidote to our first tour of Jewish Vilnius, which meanders in their midst. This self-refuelling hatred enabled Vilnius to through the narrow alleyways where Jews once lived and decimate its Jewish population in record time and to coerce conducted a vibrant mercantile existence. Many sites can the remaining population of 11,000 into two ghettoes, the only comprehend with the aid of information plaques – like largest of which was liquidated in September 1943, following the faded photographs outside an achingly boring 60s-era an uprising carried out by the first Jewish partisan unit in pre-fab high school, which was built over the site of the Great German-occupied Europe. Synagogue, where the illustrious Eliahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720-1797) held forth. His prodigious knowledge of Torah and halachah, combined with his incisive expositions of the Talmud, Midrash and rabbinic texts earned him the title of ‘gaon’ (eminence) and turned Vilnius into a centre of Talmudic learning. Nearby stands a modern bust of the Vilna Gaon marking the courtyard where he lived. It bears little resemblance to contemporaneous drawings of the famed scholar but, like the Banksy-esque larger-than- life stencil on a nearby wall, points to his association with the city in the popular consciousness. While the Vilna Gaon’s prayer house and yeshiva would contribute to Vilnius and all of Lithuanian Jewry’s being associated forever with the term ‘Litvak’ as synonymous for Jews who, by their rigorous, text-based rabbinic traditions were known as the ‘opponents’ (mitnagdim) of Hasidism, Vilnius was also where Haskalah or Enlightenment took firm hold. Its contributions to Yiddish literature, theatre and scientific advancement were anchored in institutions like YIVO and the Vilnius Music School, where the renowned violinist was a student. Taking such a walking tour of old/new Vilnius the visitor can begin to conceive of size, depth, richness and ubiquity of Vilnius’s Jewish presence that boosted its population throughout the 1930s to anywhere between 60,000 to 80,000. All this would come to a violent and brutal end in September 1941 after Hitler ripped up his non-aggression pact with Stalin and the German army set out on its lightning march through Lithuania. In less than six months and with fewer than 1000 German officers, Operation Barbarossa would capitalise on the murderous rage of Lithuanian police, militia and ordinary citizens who hated the Soviets more than the Nazis, who in A similar combination of German military efficiency and Lithuanian complicity would become apparent also during a day trip our group took to Kaunas, the former historical capital of Lithuania, approximately two hours away. Meanwhile, in Vilnius, the place to which Jews were regularly and systematically sent to their death was a lush and expansive forest six miles outside of town known as Paneriai. At one point it was a sylvan retreat for urban dwellers and an occasional site for Vilnius’s pioneering Zionist youth groups to camp and imagine their new lives in Palestine. During the pre-war Soviet occupation, with its direct rail linkages, the Russians had started to use it as a military depot. The Nazis found its deep pits perfect for mass executions. There are several towering monuments erected at Paneriai to memorialise systematic murder of tens of thousands of Jews – approximately 70,000 – that was carried out in stages and known as the Poneray massacre. Yet it is the grass-covered, gaping pits which play more disturbingly on the imagination, especially as Svetlana relates eyewitness accounts of how the executions were carried out and shows us one pit where, in a burst of innovation, the Germans discovered the efficiency of corpse burning. Then, as some members of the group wander off by themselves to recite Kaddish by empty, verdant craters, it dawns on the visitor that all this – as efficient and thorough a killing field as it was in 1941, was only the beginning. This work-in-progress component of the Shoah became even more apparent when our group journeyed to Kaunas where, that same summer of 1941 and again catalysed by indigenous hatred, the Germans overran the ancient Lithuanian capital, first liquidating Slabodka, its historic Jewish section (subsequently the Kovno ghetto) and ultimately, in stages, evacuating the bulk of the Jewish population to the Ninth Fort. issue 299 | august 2019 Features One of several 19th Century fortresses surrounding Kaunas, the Ninth Fort, with its ready-made, honeycombed, dungeon- like cells and deep trenches became another fit-for-purpose site for slaughter, not only for the Jews of Kaunas during this early phase of the Holocaust, but also for thousands of French Jews towards the end of the war, when death trains heading for Auschwitz were diverted but not deterred from their killing mission, which took place there. Despite a hot and sticky day in May, a visit to the Ninth Fort is one from which it seems impossible to get warm, with room after claustrophobic concrete room memorialised with photographs of Jews in ordinary settings, as if yanked from normality to collective death sentence overnight. The only relief, it seems, comes with the story of a famous Christmas day escape by several inmates or the small exhibit to the equally miraculous rescue efforts by Japanese Ambassador to Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, who managed to issue approximately 6000 visas to Lithuanian Jews during the middle of the war, earning him a place at the Yad VaShem memorial as one of the ‘righteous among the nations’. And yet, flipping back to Kaunas’s pre-war past, the group welcomes learning about its storied role in the revival of Hebrew as a modern language as pioneered by the early literary efforts of its native son, Abraham Mapu, whose writings would go hand in hand with the birth of Zionism and eventually the restoration of Jewish life in its ancient homeland. When visiting Lithuania, the past/present interplay on layers of memory can be overwhelming. That may be why our group of relatives and friends was particularly thankful both for its own company but also the chance to spend kabbalat Shabbat and Friday night dinner at the Byzantine-inspired Choral Synagogue – the only synagogue the Soviets left standing out of some 400 before the war. There, along a long table amid multiple courses of fish and chicken we are reminded by Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, who greets this Irish contingent along with the Irish ambassador and a handful of Israeli visitors, that Jewish life is an ongoing proposition and a magnet for those seeking a deeper meaning of Jewish life through the lenses of the present as well as its past. Said Maurice Cohen, who helped organise the journey, “It was full of emotional surprises: The beauty of the current Vilnius overlaid with imagined reality of almost 80 years ago, with another layer which only hints at the reasons why our grandparents emigrated in the first place, all culminating in the fact that had our ancestors not left there, we, who were born after the Holocaust, would simply not have been”. 11 issue 299 | august 2019 12 Culture 1 Hebrew, Humus and the Holy Land by Yael Breuer Some 120 people attended an evening at Ralli Hall on 2nd July to listen to a talk by Israeli writer, TV presenter and food critic Gil Hovav. Hovav, the great-grandson of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, spoke eloquently about his great- grandfather and his legacy. Ben Yehuda, single-handedly revived the Hebrew language into a spoken, living language from being a dead language for 2,000 years. Ben Yehuda is well known for his work and also his dictionary. However, Gil shared stories and humorous anecdotes that have been passed down the generations in the family. “Ben Yehuda was a difficult and quite an unpleasant man”, concluded Hovav, but thanks to him my daughter wakes up Life-changing moments or “What if?” by Ivor Sorokin issue 299 | august 2019 in the morning and says to me, “ANI OHEVET OTCHA (I love you) in Hebrew and not in any other language. Thanks to him I have a clear identity, a place and a language”. Tali Saar, hummus expert and Einat Chalmers, pitta maker, renowned Israelis living locally, were responsible for the delightful culinary addition to the evening. The talk was sponsored and organised by the World Zionist Organisation and was supported locally by BNJC, Ralli Hall and SFI. WZO also run Ulpan Hebrew classes in Brighton and Hove. For more details please call Liz on 01273 735343 Gil Hovav’s new book, Candies from Heaven, includes twenty-two funny and heart-warming stories and is now available in English. We can all look back on our lives and can identify a number of ‘moments’ which have actually taken us onto the path which we have trodden. I can identify several of these during my many years (I am 85 and a half). Here is just one - What happened... In August 1963 Gweni and I decided that we were meant for each other and would like to get married. My parents were members of Holland Road Shul and while my father was completely irreligious, my mother kept a strictly kosher home and enjoyed having a good cry at her two annual visits to Yiskor services. Gweni’s family belonged to the Liberal Shul and she was confirmed there in 1957. She was also a member of the Reform Shul choir. Her parents came from Berlin, with her mother arriving in England in August 1939 (but that is another story). Anyway, we made an appointment to see the Holland Road Rabbi with our wedding request. He asked to see our parents’ ketubas, and while I could show him mine, Gweni explained that her parents had lived in Nazi Germany and they did not have one. Despite all of the evidence, he said that he could not marry us. So we went to see Rabbi Rosenblum z”l at the Reform Shul, then based at the bottom of Holland Road. He welcomed us with open arms and we agreed to marry in February 1964. Within a few months I had been inveigled by Stanley Motzney z”l to chair the shul functions committee. I held this post for some 25 years, with Gweni as décor organiser. For several years we held an annual dinner dance with brochure and tombola, raising many tens of thousands for Shul funds, and additionally a couple of more low-key events. We were both on the Board of Management, and over the period I held several executive posts of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. Gweni was, as she still is, part of the Shul Choir, having led it for some 18 years. What might have happened... The Holland Road Shul Rabbi accepted the overwhelming evidence of our Jewish roots and married us. Rembrandt’s Painting of ‘The Jewish Bride’ by Jackie Fuller with help from Phil Grabsky f you’ve ever visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam you might have come across a famous painting by Rembrandt entitled ‘The Jewish Bride’, thought to have been painted between about 1665 and 1669. It was recently used as the poster for the documentary film ‘Rembrandt’ produced by Seventh Art Productions. Rembrandt (1606 –1669) Portrait of a Couple as Isaac and Rebecca, known as ‘The Jewish Bride’ (detail), about 1665. Rijksmuseum, on loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest) SK-C-216 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Apparently, it wasn’t until the 19th- century that an art critic dubbed the hitherto unnamed painting The Jewish Bride, believing that it depicted a wealthy Jewish man bestowing jewels upon his daughter for her wedding. That interpretation then fell out of fashion, with art historians claiming that the image depicted a romantic couple, not necessarily Jewish, but the name has stuck. The most popular theory today is that the painting depicts the Old Testament figures of Isaac and Rebecca. This is supported by an earlier drawing by Rembrandt explicitly denoting the biblical couple, with which The Jewish Bride shares many similarities. Having ventured to the city of Gerar, the married couple Isaac and Rebecca pretended to be brother and sister for fear Isaac would be murdered out of jealousy for Rebecca’s incomparable beauty. The earlier drawing captures the moment in which they are discovered by the king Abimelech, who is barely visible in the top right corner. With Abimelech omitted and the couple brought to the forefront of the painting called The Jewish Bride, their love and not the drama of the story becomes the focal point. I got all this from Phil Grabsky, maker of the documentary about Rembrandt, and was also interested in his take on why this painting is considered such a masterpiece. Although difficult to appreciate without seeing the original, he felt that the depiction of this illustriously-clad man and woman was both a technical masterpiece, showcasing Rembrandt’s signature use of oil paint in thick, sculpted layers, and a sensitive rendering of a remarkably intimate moment, made all the more so by the mystery of its composition. Phil describes Rembrandt as a true innovator of the medium, using paint almost as if he were sculpting. It’s three-dimensional - and by moulding, building, scratching and smearing, Rembrandt found new ways of creating detail and depth, beautifully displayed in the couple’s richly coloured garments. The exquisite detail of the man’s sleeve for instance was created with weighty Culture 13 dabs of paint, accentuated with visceral scratches of the artist’s pallet knife. dabs of paint, accentuated with visceral scratches of the artist’s pallet knife. The juxtaposition of those heavy, sumptuous garments with such a delicate and intimate embrace is, in Phil’s view, a part of what makes the painting so enchanting. The viewer is, on the one hand, confronted with the refinement and modesty of a happy and clearly wealthy couple. On the other hand, the placement of the man’s hand on the woman’s breast – or, perhaps more accurately, over her heart, plus the darkness within which they are shrouded and the fact that they are looking neither at each other nor at the viewer, all suggest that this is a private moment not intended to be on display. The image is intimate, voyeuristic and beguiling all at the same time. The juxtaposition of those heavy, sumptuous garments with such a delicate and intimate embrace is, in Phil’s view, a part of what makes the painting so enchanting. The viewer is, on the one hand, confronted with the refinement and modesty of a happy and clearly wealthy couple. On the other hand, the placement of the man’s hand on the woman’s breast – or, perhaps more accurately, over her heart, plus the darkness within which they are shrouded and the fact that they are looking neither at each other nor at the viewer, all suggest that this is a private moment not intended to be on display. The image is intimate, voyeuristic and beguiling all at the same time. Part of the pleasure of paintings in Phil’s view – and why it always helps to know something about the artist and his or her period – is the often inevitable mystery that is associated with a work. Our appreciation of The Jewish Bride is accentuated by the sense of thrill and enchantment caused by the painting’s enigmatic status. Its original title, the identity of its sitters and the context under which it was created have long since fallen into an unknowable obscurity but such obscurity has spurred exciting speculation. Part of the pleasure of paintings in Phil’s view – and why it always helps to know something about the artist and his or her period – is the often inevitable mystery that is associated with a work. Our appreciation of The Jewish Bride is accentuated by the sense of thrill and enchantment caused by the painting’s enigmatic status. Its original title, the identity of its sitters and the context under which it was created have long since fallen into an unknowable obscurity but such obscurity has spurred exciting speculation. Given the voyeuristic nature of The Jewish Bride, many have speculated that the threat posed by Abimelech is not as absent as it might at first seem. Intoxicated by the secret romance and beauty of the subjects, have we the viewers become the prying eyes of Gerar? Given the voyeuristic nature of The Jewish Bride, many have speculated that the threat posed by Abimelech is not as absent as it might at first seem. Intoxicated by the secret romance and beauty of the subjects, have we the viewers become the prying eyes of Gerar? Given the voyeuristic nature of The Jewish Bride, many have speculated that the threat posed by Abimelech is not as absent as it might at first seem. Intoxicated by the secret romance and beauty of the subjects, have we the viewers become the prying eyes of Gerar? Given the voyeuristic nature of The Jewish Bride, many have speculated that the threat posed by Abimelech is not as absent as it might at first seem. Intoxicated by the secret romance and beauty of the subjects, have we the viewers become the prying eyes of Gerar? Whatever the subject matter, it is a wonderful painting of a couple who once lived (even if only in Rembrandt’s imagination) and in this gentle moment are seeming to express their love for one another. Whatever the subject matter, it is a wonderful painting of a couple who once lived (even if only in Rembrandt’s imagination) and in this gentle moment are seeming to express their love for one another. NOTE: Anyone wanting to know more might like to watch the documentary about ‘Rembrandt’ by Seventh Art Productions (producer Phil Grabsky, narrator Robert Lindsay, available as DVD or download). See exhibitiononscreen.com and seventh- art.com for more details. NOTE: Anyone wanting to know more might like to watch the documentary about ‘Rembrandt’ by Seventh Art Productions (producer Phil Grabsky, narrator Robert Lindsay, available as DVD or download). See exhibitiononscreen.com and seventh- art.com for more details. NOTE: Anyone wanting to know more might like to watch the documentary about ‘Rembrandt’ by Seventh Art Productions (producer Phil Grabsky, narrator Robert Lindsay, available as DVD or download). See exhibitiononscreen.com and seventh- art.com for more details. NOTE: Anyone wanting to know more might like to watch the documentary about ‘Rembrandt’ by Seventh Art Productions (producer Phil Grabsky, narrator Robert Lindsay, available as DVD or download). See exhibitiononscreen.com and seventh- art.com for more details. issue 299 | august 2019 14 Culture 1 New Museum Displays in Jerusalem by Ivor Richards When in Jerusalem, I always fit in visits to both the Israel treatment before the writing could be reconstructed. Museum and the Bible Lands Museum. They are side by side, opposite the Knesset, so very convenient. Similarly, with one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Second book of Enoch. Apart from the regular items on display, they always have special short-term exhibitions. This year was no exception and they were well worth the visit. The fascinating thing is the startling similarity of their witness statements. Unless one can read Ge’ez, the language in which Enoch is written, this has to be The Israel Museum had a display of illuminated books accepted. Anyone interested can view the website of the by Maimonides, one of which was apparently signed by Museum and see the ‘write-up’. himself. Only two are known to exist. Unfortunately, there was no handout, or I may just have been too late that day. A pity as the pages displayed were spectacular. At the Bible Lands Museum, there was an equally fascinating exhibit - ‘Out of the Blue’. This considered the importance of the colour, not just to our ancestors, However, I felt that the second exhibit was even more but to the wider cultures of the Middle East. In particular, interesting. it traced the history of the rediscovery of ‘tehelet’ some The diary of Ilan Ramon, the space shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and six other crew members were killed in the re- entry accident, had been rescued from the space vehicle some months after the crash. It required much specialist 30 years ago, based on the work of the late Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Hertzog, father of the President of Israel, Chaim Hertzog. It was more interesting than any detective novel. Sadly, there is nothing on the web, so a visit is required. The Art of Inventing Hope - intimate conversations with Elie Wiesel by Howard Reich by Yael Breuer The Art of Inventing Hope is a book of conversations his parents’ past, between the world’s most famous Holocaust survivor and a subject barely Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel, and veteran Chicago Tribune mentioned openly journalist and son of Holocaust survivors, Howard Reich. at home while During the last four years of Wiesel’s life, the two formed he was growing a friendship and dedicated meetings and conversations up, yet always to the subject that linked them: both Wiesel and Reich’s present, while father, Robert Reich, were liberated from Buchenwald Wiesel offers death camp on the same day, April 11, 1945 and both some insight to Wiesel’s and Howard Reich’s lives had been deeply Reich’s quest. affected by the Holocaust, in different, yet connected The conversations ways. undoubtedly The conversations cover a variety of subjects, from the significance (“miracle”) of being a child of Holocaust survivors; the role of second-generation children to be witnesses to what had happened to their parents despite the unavoidable gulf between the two generations; to the fragility of sanity and the burden of guilt. offer a personal, probably therapeutic, service to Reich, yet they also offer insight and relevance to future Through these conversations Reich seeks to understand generations too. Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 01273 737223 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com issue 299 | august 2019 15 issue 299 | august 2019 16 HHC Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 Email: hollandroadshul@btconnect.com www.hollandroadshul.com 1 The Torah decrees, “Venishmartem meod lenafshoteichem” / “Be very careful about your lives” (Devarim 4:15) by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Several people have recently asked me to elaborate on my experiences training as a Medical Clown in Israel; so here we go. “Medical clowns”, also called “therapeutic clowns” or “clown doctors”, are trained professional performers who use improvisation, physical comedy, magic, puppetry and music to bring laughter, physical and mental well-being and hope to patients. Their work also has significant positive effects on the patients’ families and the medical staff who work with them. In 2006 the medical clowning programme began to be offered through Haifa University’s drama department, although the focus was just as much on psychology and healing as it was on theatrical skills. Treating the field as a serious area of study that requires training and critical thought, the school looked for students who might naturally have an affinity for medical clowning and provided them with a course of academic study focusing on drama therapy, nursing, psychology, and the performing arts. The clowns that emerged from the Haifa programme did not only have a solid grasp of how to draw healthy laughs from patients, but also a firm grasp of how and why such levity is important, which is much more than can be said for most comedians. Enrolment on the programme was not huge, but this did not stop the programme from spearheading a number of initiatives. In 2012 (with an enrolment of around 30 students in the programme proper), Haifa hosted the world’s first international medical clowning seminar, drawing participation from around the world. In addition, the programme worked with another Israeli group known as the “Dream Doctors” which served to place medical clowns in positions within Israeli hospitals. While the red-nosed researchers in the medical clowning programme might like to laugh, they took their patient care more seriously than anyone else in the field. The Medical Clown is a supportive profession in Israel Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing in that it assists in the reduction of stress, anxiety and Association provides sheltered fear that patients experience, as well as being an aid in healing. The medical Clowns are trained in psychology, social work, nursing and theatre and work with medical professionals in several areas of medical needs and specific populations, including: children, aging adults, sexual abuse and PTSD victims and those with chronic issue 299 | august 2019 accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. illnesses, among others. They approach each patient individually and work hand in hand with medical staff on each patient. The Israeli Medical Clowns differ from clowns that volunteer in hospitals, whose function is to entertain. The Israeli medical clowns, through their For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com integrative and individual approach, help people heal. Research shows that medical clowns are not just a nice “extra”. Rather, they are highly trained professionals who play a vital role in the treatment of children and adults who are hospitalized or in other healthcare facilities, helping the patients, their families, and the medical staff working with them. Employed properly, medical clowns can serve as important members of medical teams in a wide variety of health care settings. Laughter has well-known positive physiological effects. A basic part of our biology, laughter has been shown to activate the older subcortical areas of the brain and to elicit connectedness and joy. Laughter decreases the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine and increases the release of positive neuropeptides and beta-endorphins. It also increases oxygen intake, stimulates the heart, lungs and muscles and can reduce tension, anxiety and anger. Laughter has also been shown to improve immune function. One of the key effects of laughter in the medical setting is that it decreases the perception of pain and increases pain thresholds. A series of six British experimental studies showed that as a result of the release of endorphins, pain thresholds were significantly higher after laughter than in the control situation. It further found that this effect was due to laughter itself, not simply a positive experience and that comedy in a group setting was more effective than simply watching a comic video. I spent a year immersed in this process and consider it to have been an experience that I cannot and shall not ever remove from my psyche. This happiest sense of deep gratitude for what is considered to be normal functionality is brought to the fore and shall remain with me subliminally for eternity. In the 19th century and for most of the 20th, the Jewish community was based in Brighton, around the beautiful Middle Street synagogue. However, Jews also lived in Hove, as evidenced by a number of Hove streets named after prominent Jews: Montefiore Road, Davigdor Road and Somerhill Road – to name just three. Today, four synagogues are based in Hove: Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue that began life at New Church Road in 1935 and moved to its current address at 6 Lansdowne Road in 1937, Hove Hebrew Congregation at Holland Road, the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation at New Church Road, and the most recent arrival, the Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue on Palmeira Avenue, established as the New Synagogue in the mid-1950s. As it happens, before ‘the Liberal Synagogue’, as it was then called, moved to 6 Lansdowne Road, the 1930s building was the gymnasium of a Jewish girls’ school. A new building opened in December 2015, but the original modernist front wall remains intact. There were several Jewish schools in Hove back then. Hove: a sedate seaside town of broad avenues, radiating middle-class respectability. Meanwhile, from the time that the Prince Regent held court at the Pavilion in the early 19th century, Brighton has been a hub of edgy, bohemian urban living on the south coast. Not surprising then that Brighton became a major centre of LGBT+ life, long before the gay community became part of the ‘LGBT+’ rainbow in the late 1970s and ‘equality’ and ‘inclusion’ became the new watchwords of British culture. So, Brighton and Hove: Separate towns, albeit side-by-side; meeting at an invisible border marked by the angel statue on the seafront and the magnificent modernist Embassy Court flats across the road. Until the millennium, the LGBT+ community was situated in the heart of Brighton and the heart of the Jewish community was in Hove. Since the millennium, the towns of Brighton and Hove have become one city and the city as a whole celebrates LGBT+ History Month each year in February and the annual Pride Festival each Summer. Nevertheless, it took more than the creation of a city for Jewish Hove to meet LGBT+ Brighton. When I began working as rabbi of BHPS in December 2000, some congregants were uneasy about having an ‘out’ lesbian as their rabbi – and indeed half a dozen members left. I’m delighted to say that as I celebrate the 30th anniversary of my ordination, the shul has become a beacon of equality and inclusion and home to a diverse array of individuals, couples and families. As in previous years, we shall be hosting a pre-Brighton Pride Erev Shabbat shared meal on Friday 2 August at 8 pm. All are welcome: LGBT+ people of all faiths and none and our allies. Those who come along will also get a chance to see a photo exhibition depicting Jewish rituals created by LGBT+ Jews as part of the Rituals Reconstructed project, funded by Heritage Lottery and hosted by Liberal Judaism. First-time visitors should bring photo ID. Pride Samei’ach! BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Celebrating Brighton and Hove with Pride by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah 17 Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group THE TREE OF LIFE: CELEBRATING TOGETHER Sunday 8 September 2019, 2 – 6pm at BHPS Free entry, all welcome. Please register in advance via members@ interfaithcontactgroup.com In response to recent terrorist assaults against Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities, the Brighton & Hove Interfaith Contact Group is dedicating an afternoon to bringing together community groups across Brighton and Hove to express solidarity with synagogues, mosques and churches across the world that have been attacked during the past year and to explore the positive images associated with the Tree of Life in different faith traditions. The afternoon will include commemoration of those killed in terrorist attacks from Pittsburgh, USA to Christchurch, New Zealand to Colombo, Sri Lanka to Florida USA. We also wish to celebrate the work of many within our own community who work tirelessly to help people thrive together. The Tree of Life is a powerful symbol in many religious and spiritual traditions. We are delighted that this ‘Tree of Life’ event is bringing together people from diverse faith groups, as well as people from community groups working to bring about change of various kinds, so that people within our local community may better flourish and thrive. Events@BHPS Programme 2pm Arrival and registration 2.15pm Welcome by Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah and by Kate Williamson and Anthea Ballam (Co-Chairs) on behalf of IFCG. Brief presentations from participating community groups. 2.45pm Networking and looking at displays, including exhibition of tree photos by Sarah West. 3.15pm Singing Workshop, open to all, led by Brailla May, Natural Voice singing leader. There will also be an art/craft workshop going on for parents with children. 4 – 4.45pm Tea and chat 5 – 5.30pm Celebration and commemoration led by Rabbi Elli 6.00pm Depart Sunday 15 September 12 pm Robert Rinder TV judge, Strictly contestant and barrister, Robert Rinder is coming to speak at BHPS on Fame, Fortune & Fans. £15 for members and BHPS friends / £20 for non-members. Non-member booking from 10 August. Includes brunch, tea and cake. Tickets from Sarah Winstone on 07841 488620 or sarah. winstone@ntlworld.com Tisha B’Av Saturday 10 August at 7.30 pm – Erev Tisha B’Av Service led by Rabbi Elli Sarah. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. issue 299 | august 2019 18 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 1 BrightonReform The Pains of Being Courted by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Our culture and our religion encourage debates, arguments, and As much as it is nice and flattering to receive support, and we distinctions. The Torah is our Holy Book, and there are many as a minority are in need of support, I do not welcome support declarations and imperatives there. We base our daily life on the from the Far Right. First of all, it comes from incompetent people, Talmud, which is a record of discussions, some of which are left who know nothing about the Jews and Israel, as the examples unsolved. above show and believe me, I can go on. The amount of religious However, we live in a time when this Jewish attitude is difficult to keep. Look at the news. Polarisation is all over the place. Either freedom enjoyed by the Muslim communities in Israel is one of the best kept secrets in the world. you are for Brexit, and then you are a racist. Or you are against Secondly, and most importantly, in their furore, these thugs Brexit, and then you are a member of the élite. harm our religious rights as well. They want to banish the A few years ago, the search for compromise and reverence for fairness were the typical traits of British politics that was a model for Europeans (and Israelis!) and now look at the mess we are in. This race to the extremes makes the cultural atmosphere very uncomfortable for the Jews, not least because we are actually courted. production of halal meat to make life uneasy for the Muslims? If this happens, how can we be sure that the production of kosher meat will be accepted? It is not that different. They want to banish circumcision for the Muslims? They could do the same for us. Most crucially, they look at honest and law-abiding British Muslims as the fifth column of some enemy. Well, they can treat our connections with Israel exactly in the same way. Some of We are courted from the Left. You can almost feel how them already do. desperately the clique around the current Labour leader is looking for some lunatic ultra-Orthodox, willing to appear in the same picture with Jeremy Corbyn. So that they can show off visual evidence that their leader is not antisemitic as the Zionist- ran media portray him. (the fact that they did not manage to find one, says a lot about their PR talent...). And we are courted from the Right, too. Perhaps we do not see it in Brighton, where after all the Far Right is not very active (at the moment). But at national level, either in the crazy world of And if you look at social media, you can see that the Far Left is obsessed by an alleged plot orchestrated by the Israeli Embassy, against the reputation of their beloved anti-racist leader. This is a remarkable example of that overlapping between extremes, which has made the current atmosphere toxic for many respectable people of all faiths, and I am afraid for the Jewish community at large. Let us pray it finishes soon. social media or in actual political life, many numbers of Far-Right activists, are trying to reach out to the Jewish community. “After all,” they say (and look how similar they are to the Far Left), “Jews and white British people have the same enemy, which is Islam. Oh, and look how strong Israel is against Islam, especially with a leader such as Netanyahu!”. Which is, of course, rubbish, given that many more mosques have been opened in Israel under the Netanyahu led government, than under all the previous governments combined. Not to mention the salary of Islamic judges, because, yes in Israel, there are Sharia courts, that are no different from the Rabbinic Beit Din, that are tribunals, and deal with matters such as family laws. Bulletin Board – August Services (also see below) Fridays Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Events Friday 2 Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 3 Shabbat Service - Jason Lever leading the service, 10.30 am Sunday 4 Helping Hands Community Tea, 2.30 pm Friday 9 Erev Shabbat Service - James Anderson leading the service, 6.30 pm Sat 10 Shabbat Service - Jason Lever leading the service, 10.30 am Fri 16 Erev Shabbat Service - Jason Lever leading the service, 6.30 pm Sat 17 Shabbat Service - Tony Rosenfield leading the service, 10.30 am Fri 23 Erev Shabbat Service - Steve Field leading the service, 6.30 pm Sat 24 Shabbat Service - Steve Field leading the service, 10.30 am Tues 27 Rabbi Andrea returns from Sabbatical issue 299 | august 2019 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org Taking Comfort 19 by Rabbi Hershel Rader Three weeks of mourning for the destruction of our homeland and exile of our people conclude on the Fast of Tisha B’Av, this year on Sunday 11 August. Three weeks in which we read Shlosha D’paranuta - three Haftarot dealing with tragedy and affliction. For the subsequent seven weeks, commencing on Shabbat Nachamu – 17 August, we will read ‘Shiva D’nechemta’ - seven Haftarot of comfort. We could call this period the Comfort Zone. Comfort is a challenging concept. Is it possible to truly comfort someone who has suffered? Is it possible to comfort someone who has endured a tragic loss or bereavement? I recall reading an article by a woman in my community who had lost a son; a young man in his twenties who had died in an accident while on holiday. She wrote that people should not say they understand her grief, for it is impossible for them to understand unless they have suffered the same loss. Can we ever be comforted for such a loss? Or is the most we can hope for, that over the passage of time we will learn to live with the pain? This is a subject impossible to cover in these few lines or maybe even a few volumes but I would like to share with you the following thoughts. Interestingly, the first thing that woman said to me at the time of her tragic and traumatic loss was ‘Rabbi, help me make sense of this’. As human beings we tend to be more comfortable with that which we can understand. Animals are different, they move through life instinctively without giving thought to its meaning and the reasons for its vicissitudes. A human has the need to rationalise and understand; to ask ‘why?’ Understanding the reason for a tragedy does not necessarily console us. Knowing that a fatal accident occurred because a car’s brakes failed may be informative, but it is in no way comforting. But that wasn’t the mother’s question; she asked, ‘help me make sense of this?’ Her’s was not a desire for information but a quest for meaning; meaning can be comforting although the pain may still remain. Some seem not to require comfort or, perhaps, do not question. I have read that Arthur Ashe, the great Afro- American tennis player, was dying of AIDS which he contracted from infected blood given to him during a heart operation. He received a letter from one of his fans asking, ‘why did G-d choose you for this terrible disease?’ To this he replied: The world over--50,000,000 children start playing tennis, 5,000,000 learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi- finals, 2 to finals. When I was the one holding the cup, I never asked G-d ‘Why me?’ So now that I’m in pain how can I ask G-d ‘Why Me?’ I’m not sure about the figures but his attitude is clear and worth thinking about because we often fail to appreciate the good things in our lives but take them for granted while applying a different standard when things are not going well. Returning to our seven Haftarot; how does G-d comfort the Jewish people after the destruction of their Temple and exile from their homeland? What is the theme of the seven Haftarot of comfort? Essentially, He tells them that it will get better. They have incurred His wrath because of their sins but there will come a time when Jerusalem will be rebuilt and we will return. There will be a Messianic Age when things will be even better than before. This is another mode of comfort. It is not a rationalisation which enables one to live with the pain; it is a removal of that pain by taking away its cause. Imagine how comforted the bereaved would be if someone could tell them that after a period of time their lost loved one would return. But we can’t do that; it is not in our gift, only G-d’s. There is a positive, Kabbalistic approach to the Jewish exile, revealing a silver lining to the cloud of diaspora, in that we have been spread throughout the globe to bring G-d’s message even to distant isles; to spiritually elevate and refine every part of the world, however remote, through our observance of His Torah. This is the ultimate fulfilment of our responsibility to be a ‘light to the nations’. Only through this preparation can we proceed to the Messianic Age foretold by our prophets. As a nation we can be comforted in two ways: an assurance that things will one day be better and a meaningful understanding of the most difficult times in Jewish history. What we must remember though, is that entering the Comfort Zone depends on our actions and how we impact the world around us through a practical reflection of G-d’s will. issue 299 | august 2019 20 2 SHABBAT issue 299 | august 2019 What’s on: August 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 2 8.27 pm Sat 3 9.43 pm Fri 9 8.15 pm Sat 10 9.28 pm Fri 16 8.02 pm Sat 17 9.13 pm Fri 23 7.48 pm Sat 24 8.57 pm Fri 30 7.33 pm Sat 31 8.40 pm SPECIAL DATES Saturday 10 - Fast of 9 Av Fast begins 8.31 pm Sunday 11 - Fast ends 9.07 pm Monday 26 - Bank HolidayEVENTS IN AUGUST Sunday 4 Helping Hands Community Tea at the AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30 pm – 4.30 pm. Donation £3.00. Transport can be arranged. Contact 01273 747722 CST Community Briefing 7.00 pm – 10.30 pm Friday 9 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the September 2019 issue Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Friday Night Dinner at Heene Road Community Centre Heene Road, Worthing. 6.30 for 7.00 pm. Members £10/non-members £12. Contact nick@sussexjewishoutreach.com or phone 01273 728178 Wednesday 14 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society meeting at the Littlehampton Links Course, Contact ashley@sportscastnet.com Sunday 18 WDJC Garden Party 2.30 pm. RSVP 2 Madehurst Close, East Preston BN16 2TH (Willowhayne Estate) or tel: 01903 779720 or email barbaraian@uwclub.net. £7.50 per person. Cheques made payable to WDJC Ralli Hall Jewish Film Club presents ‘A Bag of Marbles’ at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. Members - Film and refreshments FREE or Film, Food & Refreshments £11.00 pp. Non-Members Film and refreshments £5.00/ Film, Food & Refreshments £15.00 pp. Time: Food served 6.30 pm / Film starts £7.30 pm. Food bookings close Thursday August 8. Call 01273 202254 or email rallihallcentre@gmail. com REGULAR ACTIVITIES Please taking place. check with the organisations to be sure of the events Please note that our next issue will be September 2019 The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 8 August 2019. Please remember to send in your New Year greetings in time for this issue. IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106. (Summer break - classes recommence in the autumn) Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the L&SC@RH. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, fourth Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, second Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 -
Issue 298
July 2019
1 july 2019 • SIVAN – TAMMuZ 5779 • ISSuE 298 whAT’S INSIdE.... hISTORy OF lANGuAGES | RAllI hAll jEwISh ARTS FESTIVAl | hERMAN wOuK | d-dAy IN BAyEuX | whAT’S ON | ANd MORESuSSEX jEwISh NEwS Whats 2 Community Spotlight 3 Ivrit and the History of Languages by Yael Breuer We have an exciting opportunity to meet and listen to When? Tuesday 2nd July 2019 Israeli author, TV presenter, chef and great-grandson of the man who almost single-handedly revived the Where? Hebrew language. A venue in Hove, details given upon registration Gil Hovav will deliver a fascinating talk about a one-off What time? phenomenon in the history of Languages, entitled, My 7.30 - 9 PM (the talk lasts an hour and there will be time for Q&A) Great-Great Grandfather, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, and the How much? This is a free event, but please register Revival of the Hebrew Language. in advance so we know for how many Hebrew was practically dead for 2000 years. The man people to cater. who revived it almost single-handedly was Eliezer And if that’s not good enough - Israeli refreshments will Ben Yehuda, one of the founding fathers of Zionism. be served. Gil Hovav, his great-grandson, tells the story of this unprecedented miracle through the little secrets that were kept by his family for more than a hundred years. The event is organised by WZO and is supported locally by BNJC, Ralli Hall and SFI. To register and for more details – please email Ashley at ashley.woolfe@bnjc.co.uk Front Cover - Taking a rest - a woman takes a seat as her friends come along to join her in the Old City Shuk in Jerusalem by Brian Megitt. SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. issue 298 | july 2019 EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. COVER IMAGE Brian Megitt PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 JULY 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 A REST FROM THE OLD CITY SHUk by Brian Megitt 2 HISTORY OF LANGUAGE A free event on the rebirth of Hebrew 10 MIDDLE STREET SYNAGOGUE Vicky Bhogal and Godfrey Gould give a guided tour 12 ZEH RAk DA’ATI 9 Godfrey Gould on travel 13 WYBERLEY INFORMATION BOARD Lesley Urbach on the convalescent home that helped Kindertransport girls 14 D-DAY IN BAYEUX Charlotte Carlebach attended the commemoration REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 15 CULTURE Rabbi Jeremy Rosen on Herman Wouk 20 WHAT’S ON – JULY Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 16 BRIGHTON & HOvE HEBREW CONGREGATION 17 HOvE HEBREW CONGREGATION 18 BRIGHTON & HOvE PROGRESSIvE SYNAGOGUE 19 BRIGHTON & HOvE REFORM SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 • accept advertisements and announcements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements or announcements; Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by Flyers: £40 per Flyer email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 298 | july 2019 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Anna Becker, Barbara Curtis and Shani Corb on their special birthdays. Wedding Mazel tov to Juliette and Bryan Huberman and Gary Kenton on the marriage of Zac Kenton to Roxana Jebreel. Wedding Anniversaries Mazel tov to: • Irit and Roger Abrahams on their Golden (50) Wedding Anniversary • Michael and Wendy Lovegrove on their Ruby (40) Wedding Anniversary • Pat and Roland Moss on their Diamond (60) Wedding Anniversary Achievements Mazel tov to: • Sally Becker on her new position as Executive Director at Save a Child • Fiona Sharpe on her position as Spokesperson for Labour Against Antisemitism. issue 298 | july 2019 Get Well We wish a refuah sheleimah to all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time. Deaths We wish Long Life to Francine Miskin and family on the sad death of her son Stuart z’l, after a long illness bravely borne. Tombstone Consecrations • The stonesetting in loving memory of Rene Arlen z’l will take place on Sunday 7th July 2019 at 3.30pm at Old Shoreham Road, Hove • The stonesetting in loving memory of Jasmine Edelman z’l will take place on Sunday 28 July at 2.30 pm at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton Thank You Rita Mitchell and family thank Rabbi Efune, everyone at Holland Road Synagogue, and all their family and many friends for the wonderful support, letters, cards and warm wishes of condolence received on the sad passing of Ronnie z’l. Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons Our June meeting at Copthorne Golf Club near Crawley Country Club on 22 July when we will compete against was thoroughly enjoyed by a large number of our teams from the London Jewish golf clubs and societies. members. The course is renowned as one of the most difficult in Sussex and presented quite a challenge. Our meeting on 17 July will be at the Dyke Golf Club when we will be playing for the Sugarman Trophy, one Our June match at the Dyke Golf Club against the of our major annual trophies, and Lucy Sugarman will Dyke’s Early Birds Golf Society is an annual fixture be joining us for the evening meal to present the trophy which we always look forward to, as many of our to the winner. opponents have become good friends over the years. As usual, the match was keenly fought. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, We sent our strongest team to the prestigious young or not so young. For more information please Metropolitan golf competition at Sandy Lodge Golf contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at ashley@ Club in Hertfordshire, organised by and under the sportscastnet.com auspices of the Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies. In very demanding course conditions, with particularly deep bunkers, we acquitted ourselves very well against strong teams from the London Jewish golf clubs and golf societies. This will be good practice for the equally prestigious Glancy competition on 6 and 7 July, when, over Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted two days, we compete against Jewish golf clubs into hospital, please get in touch with info@ and golf societies from all over the UK and Ireland, sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 at Edmondstown Golf Club in Dublin. Also, for the Southern Provincial competition at Abridge Golf and 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 4 Sussex and the City 5 The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival 2019 Update Arrangements for the Sussex Jewish Arts Festival are well under way with artists, designers, photographers, craftspeople and artistic creatives attending from every quarter of the community and from across the county. An initiative organised by Ralli Hall, the Sussex Jewish Arts Festival, is already promising to be a prominent event in the summer community calendar. We are already discovering what a diverse and talented community we are, waiting for you to discover and applaud on the day. The Jewish Art Society (JAS) has been based at Ralli Hall Jewish Community Centre for over 35 years. Dedicated to teaching and encouraging art, painting, drawing in the local community, the JAS will be headlining the Arts Festival by presenting a wonderful array of art from their creative and enthusiastic members. Still producing their talented work and still impressing us with their creativity, Festival visitors will see the amazing work from much loved community notables such as Norman Perl, Martin Gould, Kitty Arscott, Josie Dousek and many others. You simply cannot miss the amazing creative talent and work on show from Orna Schneerson Pascal, Amanda Davidson and Dany Louise. The Festival will also feature the creative talent from other community quarters such as Hyman Fine House. Essentially a showcase of local art, the Festival also aims to feature local photography, design, crafts, jewellery, metalwork, writing, poetry, pottery and sculpture. There will be a special slideshow of photos and art from the Ralli Hall and Jewish Art Society archives. Visitors will have an opportunity to meet the artists, discuss their work and hopefully become inspired and to get involved. JACS News by Shirley Jaffe JACS continues to have well-attended, varied and successful meetings monthly (the first Thursday in the month, subject to Jewish holidays) at Ralli Hall. Do come along and try us. This month we had a “Your Time” meeting, dealing with a choice of speakers. Shirley then led a reminiscence session where the senior members of the group told stories of their memories of D-Day, including a lovely tale of a 17-year old girl being recruited to drive a bread delivery van. Another told of fire-fighting and of a ten-year old in hospital sent as surrogate family to visit D-Day Canadian casualties in the ward downstairs. On July 4th journalist and fund-raiser Bev Cohen will give a talk with the intriguing title “What’s a Nice Jewish girl doing working for a Moslem charity?” Do come along and listen. Future meetings will include a show of short films made locally (September) and What Makes a Spy(!) in October. August’s speaker is not yet confirmed. For more details please ring Shirley on 01273 775461 issue 298 | july 2019 There will be a delightful array of refreshments, snacks and cakes. Visitors to the Festival will be able to vote for their favourite work on show. At the end of the day there will be a charity auction of unique art and crafts donated from artists for you to bid for and take home. A highlight of the day will be the Sussex Arts Festival Community Award for recognition of artistic work in the community. Who will it be? Art, creativity, ingenuity and innovation are traditionally in our Jewish genes. The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival celebrates and showcases the many artists and creative people in our local community so we hope you will join us. We hope you will bring your work for others to enjoy and inspire. We ask you, what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than at a summer arts festival? Above all, the Sussex Jewish Arts Festival at Ralli Hall will be a wonderful opportunity and the perfect venue for visitors, friends, colleagues and families to meet up, network and come together for what promises to be a unique community occasion. The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival opens on Sunday July 28th from 2pm to 5pm. Entry is free for visitors and exhibitors. For more information about the event or displaying your work, simply call 01273 202254 or email us at rallihallcentre@gmail. com 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com 6 Sussex and the City 7 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer May has been a very enjoyable time for the members of The Lunch & Social Club. We had an amazing time in Eastbourne. The weather was great, the food was wonderful and the company was fantastic. We had Phil, a great entertainer, for two nights and we joined in dancing or singing to his great music. We had games evenings and of course we never stopped talking. The weekends away to Eastbourne are always a great success, but this time was better than ever (we do say this each time but it just seems to get better and better) so we are planning another one at the end of the year. We have volunteers who have been with us for many years and we decided to give them awards for their dedication and fantastic Shirley Burke, Marilyn Fisher, Sheila Harte, Miriam Flexer, Linden Barnet, Beverley Barnet volunteer work. Unfortunately we do not have photos of all the Forthcoming Attractions Tuesday 2 July Silver String Orchestra are coming to play for us at 2pm Volunteers as some were on holiday. Wednesday 10 July BBQ at Hyman Fine House On 30 May, Doris Levinson gave a talk to the Lunch Sunday 15 September Card afternoon Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club - £10 a ticket. Club about her We would love to hear from you so please contact me life, which was on 01273 739999 or ralliday@tiscali.co.uk for further very interesting, details. and all our members Doris Levinson Vivienne Stockman and friends enjoyed this so much that we are hoping she will come back at a later date and talk to us again. Doris has many friends and we were delighted to welcome them for Lunch. We have a few members who are unwell and we wish them a speedy recovery and we hope they will come back soon as we miss them a lot. Laura Sharpe issue 298 | july 2019 6 Sussex and the City 7 Helping Hands and Talking by Sylvia Cohen We invited Gill Yentis from Jewish Care to come and run a workshop to help volunteers open up conversations around the table at the teas, or when visiting members in their homes, and to trigger memories by using postcards, pictures and books. One of our volunteers very kindly wrote a short piece about this. On Thursday 15 May, I was invited to a lunch by Helping Hands, together with 17 other volunteers, held in the AJEX Hall, Eaton Road, Hove. I had only recently joined Helping Hands, having moved to Brighton a couple of years ago to be close to my eldest daughter and granddaughter. I assumed the lunch they had arranged was as a thank you to the volunteers who help at the bi-monthly teas. Surprisingly, it was something else completely. Yes, there was a deli lunch, but the theme was not as expected. We sat round a big table and met Gill Yentis from Jewish Care. She chaired the entire session and opened a whole new world of caring and talking, primarily featuring dementia. She made us fully aware of how it affects people, their lives, their depression and the effects this has on their own lives, their families and their futures. Postcards were spread over the tables from which we selected one and we each explained why we had made that choice. The response from each of us was most revealing. Gill talked about people diagnosed with dementia attending Day Centres, loneliness, helping ways of coping with their ups and downs and understanding the problems they may be experiencing. She had brought with her a box of her own memorabilia and explained their importance in her life. I realized how important a box like this could be in helping keep these memories alive in people’s minds. Since then I have started my own box with items reminding me of happy memories. Should I ever be in a position when my memory fades as I get older, I can open my box and retrieve my life again. Thanks to having Gill with us, the whole experience was a delight. There will hopefully be more sessions like this one in the future and I look forward to them with great anticipation. Thank you, Helping Hands, for opening my eyes and heart to the possible effects of dementia and I hope in future to be more understanding of the problems people may have.issue 298 | july 2019 01273 747722 8 Sussex and the City 9 Hyman Fine House by Natasha Carson and Mark Pady As you may be aware, many older people are living with dementia, including some in the Home. They are still able to enjoy life and participate in creative projects. So, this year it was very special for us to be part of Dementia Action Week in displaying silk paintings created at the home in Brighton’s Jubilee library. The multi-sensory art sessions that produced this work are called Creationlace. The project founders, Paul Chi and Miranda Ryder, developed the idea as a way of uniting communities of all abilities and coming together in fun and enjoyment. It is their first public display and we were very proud to see the art work hanging in the Library. Are you or is someone you know a Bridge player? At the moment we have 3 bridge Creationlace exhibit at the Library players in the home Mark Pady, Activities Coordinator, explained, “The group and they paint together onto flowing fabrics accompanied by a guitarist are looking and singer. We see people of all abilities painting, sometimes for a 4th in rhythm to the music. You don’t need experience in art and to get it’s great for all abilities, including people living with dementia, the game and of all ages. We have invited visitors to come and join us going! including residents’ grandchildren and families of our carers as well as the children from local nurseries who come and visit the home regularly. We are very proud of the artwork of our residents, especially people with dementia. Seeing their work on display brings a great sense of achievement. One of our residents living with dementia, said, “At first painting on fabric made me nervous to do it but after a while I began to relax and I enjoy it.” If you would like to learn more about volunteering in the home, please contact Natasha or Mark on 01273 688226. Did you know - volunteering doesn’t have to be every week? – we have some lovely volunteers who come only on high holy days and others just in the school holidays. There’s a role for everyone! Natasha Carson noted that, “We hope the local community will pop in to the library to have a look at the display. We have an ongoing creative and stimulating participatory arts programme and always welcome the local community to take part”. We held our Brighton Fringe Festival event Flourish at the Yellow Wave on the 30th of May. It’s our 3rd year of Flourish and now a regular annual event for us. The weather was kind and we had lots of young visitors and families making it a wonderful inter-generational community day of art, gardening, cookery, photography, music and play. We were even visited by our MP who popped by to wish us luck in the morning. Sally Manley, resident at the home said, “How wonderful to be so close to the beach, what a great venue. I particularly enjoyed watching the children having fun and look forward to next year’s event”. issue 298 | july 2019 Zena Culter and Clare Leigh with Rona and Lauren planting up hanging baskets Lilian Brandle with cakes Alan Bass with Hannah creating some art 8 Sussex and the City 9 Chabad and me by Seth Marks It’s a Friday afternoon in late November. The sky, after an take my mind off the reason I was in the hospital), because for early 5pm sunset, acts as a blank canvas for the street-lit them, the status quo is never good enough! path from every student home and accommodation towards the Chabad on Campus home of Rabbi Zalman and Shterna Lewis. Whatever time you are reading this, wherever you are, they are at that moment creating another opportunity for Jewish students to engage with their Judaism, each at their own level. When students feel worried, they are there to listen and, if able, to pass on advice. When I felt uncertain of myself after a relationship had ended, they were there to heat up a bowl of soup and not only hear what I had to say, but really listen and give me the push to search for, not just how to make someone else okay, but to make myself feel great again. Graduating from the University of Sussex this year, I can easily write a post about how for three years I gave my parents Nachas by joining the Lewis Kosher Shabbat dinner each week, and by engaging with Zalman’s Torah-inspired anecdotes at the weekly ‘Lunch and Learn’ at the Sussex campus. They are not only members of the student community; they are the glue that keeps it strongly held together. It’s very easy, after graduating, to forget the hundreds of people you meet at university. With the Lewises, they won’t be forgotten, because each month my bank statement will show the regular donation to Chabad to ensure they can continue the I could simply tell you about how the Lewis family open up wonderful work to which they are dedicated. their lives and their home to each and every student. But then, I would not be giving you the full picture on how this family has made such an astonishing impact on my university experience, whilst also not taking up too much of your time to read this. Please consider being a partner in the amazing work of Chabad at South East Coast Universities. Right now, they are in the middle of their yearly fundraising challenge to sell 1000 raffle tickets. The Grand Prize is £7,700, while other prizes include a return trip to Israel for two people and When the ‘flu prevented me from walking to Shabbat dinner, other cash prizes. Tickets are ONLY £27 each. Please visit Shterna drove to my student house to deliver a homemade ChabadSussex.org/Raffle to find out more. challah and a meal. In mid-November, I took ill, and Zalman schlepped out of his way on his return from University of Kent, in Canterbury, to visit me in a London hospital. And all, really just to tell me a joke and discuss the mess of Brexit (or On behalf of all the Jewish students who benefit from the work of Chabad on Campus, we thank you for your generosity. issue 298 | july 2019 10 Features 11 Middle Street Synagogue opens its doors by Vicky Bhogal Since the beginning of this year’s Brighton Fringe, we have welcomed over 1,900 visitors to Brighton’s Grade II* listed Synagogue. Many remarked that they had no idea what lay behind the unassuming façade. In their words, “I have never been to such a beautiful synagogue”, “It’s an amazing piece of history that should be preserved,” and, “This has to be one of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Thank you for opening your doors for us.” The enjoyable talks by local historians Godfrey Gould, Michael Crook and Gordon Franks as well as board members Susan Conway and Martin Gilmore were all well received. Godfrey took the opportunity to finish his talks by amazing visitors with his talent for blowing the shofar and in the words of one happy visitor, “The talk was the highlight of a very spontaneous and rewarding visit”. Rabbi Rader gave talks on We hosted hugely successful open Sunday afternoons and Wednesday lunchtimes during the Fringe and a private tour for an international family group from France, Hungary, Israel and America, that visited as part of their Bar Mitzvah celebrations. The Fringe Sunday afternoons were so popular that visitors were queuing down Middle Street as they waited to sign in. The synagogue was full, creating quite a buzz amidst the melting-pot of volunteers from all the local Jewish congregations. the Mystical Synagogue and the Jewish Triumph of Survival. Two people commented, “The Rabbi’s talk was wonderful Walking in through the doors of the synagogue, you are – a triumph transported back in time to a bygone age of elegance of survival and gently uplifted by the inherent sacredness of the indeed!” building. Suffused by golden light from the stained- and “really glass windows, it is an oasis of calm and tranquillity fascinating in the centre of the busy city. A unique place, which is and moving.” such an important part of our Jewish heritage, standing Operatically trained, Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer testament to the story and achievements of the first delighted us with an emotive, impromptu liturgical Jewish residents of Brighton, who rose to prominence performance. in all areas of British life. Also, to the Jewish talent for arriving destitute and often dispossessed in a new land and working against prejudice, poverty and all odds to survive, thrive, endure and create something exceptional. One visitor commented that it was a “Great honour to finally be inside this beautiful place. As a Jew I’m so pleased to have had this opportunity.” With today’s attitudes, there is a very real need for more openness, information and education. The general public has a thirst for knowledge about Jewish culture and heritage which has been evidenced by the fact that around 80% of the visitors last month were non-Jewish and came with a genuine, humble desire to learn more. One person felt so inspired she said it made her “think issue 298 | july 2019 10 Features 11 about learning more about the religion”. A second wider communities including talks, musical events and hoped, “That it will forever be a jewel in the crown, not Jewish and Israeli films. Many Jewish and non-Jewish a relic but an eternal testament to G-d and a symbol comedians, speakers and musicians have generously of an inclusive family for all, no matter what label”. offered to perform for free, so they can help to raise the Another from Colombia thanked us, “For opening money needed to secure the future of the synagogue. this beautiful building and ... traditions to the public”. The film evenings, ‘Kolnoa’, will commence in the Adding, “Let all people live side by side in peace.” synagogue with an introduction to the film, followed by Located in the epicentre of Brighton, by the beach and a stroll from the Pavilion, the Synagogue is the perfect place to evolve into an important and renowned Jewish a short stroll across the road to the Werks Central for the screening with drinks and nibbles in the bar and beautiful garden area. Heritage, Learning and Cultural Centre. An inclusive If you’d like to hire the synagogue for a private tour space where anyone can come to learn more, from the or event, please let us know. Weddings, Bar and Bat casual tourist to the specialist PhD student. We have Mitzvahs and other appropriate events can be held received help and support from The Royal Pavilion and within the synagogue whilst other events can take Museums, English Heritage, the Brighton and Hove place in conjunction with the synagogue and the Werks Heritage Commission and the Council, although they Central. are not able to offer financial support. We would welcome copies of family photos and stories Our initial objective is to make the synagogue self- of weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and other notable sufficient, through raising the money needed to cover occasions, which have been held at the synagogue. the running costs and restoration. We are putting together a programme of talks and events for the next few months, in conjunction with the Heritage Open Days and 20th Anniversary of the European Day of Jewish Heritage and Culture. This includes ‘Open Sunday Afternoons’ on July 7th, August 4th and September 15th and 22nd 2019. We always need volunteers, fundraisers and benefactors and would be delighted to hear from you if you’d like to get involved. Email Vicky at vickybhogal007@gmail.com or call the office on 01273 888855. See Facebook: Middle Street Synagogue and Twitter: @street_middle for updates on events. We are also working on ‘Wednesdays At Middle Street,’ a programme open to both the Jewish and A Guided Tour of Middle Street Synagogue by Godfrey Gould The first Jewish worshippers in Brighton, in the late end being dedicated to Arthur Sassoon, whose friend, King eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, used rooms in Edward VII, would stay at his home in Hove. The Ark gates houses in Jew Street and Poune’s Court, an entry off the and delightful surrounds are also a Sassoon gift, as is the lower end of West Street. But by 1838 they had their first pulpit. It was given as a remembrance of the marriage of purpose-built Synagogue in Devonshire Place, designed by his son, Edward to Aline Caroline de Rothschild, of Paris, David Mocatta. Although now flats, the facade of this building by Sir Albert Sassoon, Bart. who lived at 1 Eastern Terrace, is still to be seen, as is at least one of the interior features. Brighton. The windows to the left of the Ark are Edward’s But later in that century, as the community moved further commemoration of his father. west and the Synagogue became too small, a site was Of the English Rothschilds, the Baron Mayer Amschel de acquired at 66 Middle Street. By 1874 the foundation stone Rothschild MP is remembered by the donation of the two was laid and a year later, to much celebration, Chief Rabbi brass Menorah which stand on either side of the Ark. His Nathan Marcus Adler consecrated the new Synagogue. widow, the Baroness Juliana, and his daughter, Hannah, The building was designed by Thomas Lainson, the non- gave these. Hannah married the Earl of Rosebery (to be Jewish architect to the Wick Estate, owned by eminent local Prime Minister and three times Derby winner!), and is herself Jewish property developer and entrepreneur Sir Isaac Lyon remembered by two sets of windows upstairs donated by Goldsmid, Bart. The interior was not as it is now. But between her maiden aunts, Juliana’s sisters, Anna Louisa and Lucy its opening and the beginning of the First World War that Cohen. They also gave the balustrade in front of the Ark simple interior was transformed into the glory we now have. and the windows to the right of the Ark in memory of their It was not designed to be thus, so the unity of the result has parents. And in 1904 Lucy gave a further set of two windows been quite accidental. The remarkable donations and the in memory of her sister who had died in 1902. wonderful execution that has thus been created, provide a spectacle that has to be seen in reality to be fully appreciated. Also note the tops of the columns where there are brass representations of plants mentioned in the Bible. The The beautiful windows along both sides of the building both columns are, in fact, continuous, and are iron, not stone. This upstairs and down were largely designed by Lainson himself. was, furthermore, the first Synagogue in Britain to be lit by Note the rose window above the entry doors, a Sassoon electricity, again through the generosity of members of the donation, depicting, not the signs of the Zodiac, but the signs Sassoon family. All these factors and more make this, “After of the Jewish months. Various members of the Sassoon the Royal Pavilion, the most spectacular interior in Brighton” family donated other windows, two sets near the western (Anthony Dale, 1989). issue 298 | july 2019 12 13 Zeh Rak Da’ati 9 by Godfrey R Gould Here I am again. But it’s summer time, and summer cooking, but dolmades, stuffed aubergines, stuffed time is travel time So, travel time is here. peppers and roasted vegetables do. The latter involves I didn’t go abroad until I was 22, but after a very slow start I’ve made up for that and I have now been to about 60 countries so far. But in 2008 I had a bilateral knee replacement, a heart attack, and increasing problems with my lower spine. I have had physiotherapy, acupuncture, manipulation, and spinal steroid and epidural injections. And now I’m taking massive doses of paracetamol, codeine and gabapentin. But nothing has done any good, and my lower back pain has just got steadily worse. So, from 2008 to 2013 I didn’t go abroad at all. a base of thinly sliced potatoes topped with roughly chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions and courgettes, together with garlic and sundry herbs. The deep tray is half filled with water, liberally covered with olive oil and sea salt, and then put in the oven - yum yum. An easy starter is wilted greens served with a generous dose of olive oil, sea salt and a squeeze of lemon, and, of course, some crusty artisan Greek bread. We also made some apple pies which were actually turnovers, but delicious anyway. Vegetables feature large in the diet and there is always a plentiful supply of fish. By 2013 my consultant and I decided that we’d come to the end of the road. But at his suggestion I went on a seven-week Pain Management Programme at the Hove Polyclinic and it totally changed my mental attitude and physical behaviour to my back pain. I started travelling again. So, between 2013 and 2017 I travelled between Lisbon and Tel Aviv, and between Valetta and Helsinki, and many of the places in between. I even managed to add several countries to my list of those to which I have been - Albania, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey! But in 2018 I slowed down and only went to Kranyska Gora, a mountain resort in Slovenia, a country which previously I had only passed through travelling between Italy and Croatia. All well worth the effort, although the help I was supposed to get at Gatwick North coming home from the terminal to Passport Control did not appear. But I noted all the free loaders managing quite capably whilst I struggled, and I was in a state of collapse by the time I got to Passport Control. There, staff were very helpful, as they were at Baggage Collection. Mine was by then the sole case on the belt - it took me an hour from the plane to where my patient driver waited for me, but he then swiftly delivered me back to Hove (many thanks, Steve!). But I still find aggravating the number of seemingly reasonably fit people who take advantage of the facilities provided especially for the truly disabled, to the utter detriment of those who really cannot manage themselves. However, my complaints to But now in 2019 I’ve picked up again. In May I went Gatwick have been acknowledged, and I’ve just heard on a culinary holiday to Crete, and have already that they’re sending me a hamper in compensation! returned from a cruise to Norway. In Crete we stayed at Kissamos, a small town on the north coast near Chania. There were just 11 of us, and we cooked and we ate and we visited. The visits included producers of So, this month (actually June) I’m off to Norway, and then in September, to Italy. Enjoy your summer, wherever you’re going. wine and honey and olive oil and soap - from olive oil, The other countries I’d been to between 2013 and 2017 Crete, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, is an island of olive trees. Cooking is dominated by the Greece, France, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Malta, liberal use of olive oil. It is used with gay abandon on Monaco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and everything. Mostly we did prep work, but ate our efforts Sweden, all of which I’ve been to before. later when they had been cooked. Tsatsiki requires no issue 298 | july 2019 Features Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 12 Features 13 kindertransport Information Board Unveiled by Lesley Urbach Readers may recall an article Wyberley that featured in SJN last January stood in regarding the use of a convalescent Leylands home in Burgess Hill as a home for Road, next Kindertransport girls. An information to what board has now been erected near is now the site of that home, thanks to the the Marle efforts of Lesley Urbach. Place Adult A sunny Sunday afternoon in June saw the unveiling, at Marle Place Recreation Ground in Burgess Hill, of an information board commemorating the role Education Institute. The house was demolished in 1956. of Wyberley Ladies Convalescent The unveiling Home in caring for 50 Jewish was girls who had found refuge in this attended Country from Nazi persecution. by 8 of the The girls, whose ages ranged children, from 8 to 17, arrived in Britain nieces and from Germany, Austria, Poland nephews of six of the refugee girls and Czechoslovakia, between who lived at Wyberley, as well as by December 1938 and the outbreak of local residents, staff and children war, on the Kindertransport. from Burgess Hill Girls School, A Jewish Friendly Society called the Grand Order Sons of Jacob, which owned the Wyberley Ladies Convalescent Home, took responsibility for 50 of the refugee Burgess Hill Academy, and the Girl Guides Association; members of Burgess Hill History and Heritage Society; a librarian and three local Councillors. children; they supported and cared Councillor Roger Cartwright, the for them in Wyberley for some recently elected Mayor of Burgess two years from January 1939. By Hill District Council, unveiled the all accounts the girls were well board together with organiser looked after by the matron of the Lesley Urbach, whose mother and Home, Hilda Joseph, and her sister, aunt, refugees from Germany, were Margaret. among the young residents of Wyberley. issue 298 | july 2019 The unveiling was followed by a reception at the Town Hall hosted by the Mayor and generously laid on by the Council. Lesley gave a short presentation about the girls’ experiences at the Home. In this she was assisted by three Girl Guides and one pupil from Burgess Hill Girls school, who read quotes from the recollections of some of the women who lived in Wyberley as girls. Lesley thanked councillors and Council officers from Burgess Hill District Council for their enthusiastic support and for helping to ensure that this significant period of Burgess Hill’s history is better known in the Town. Drawing on her own family’s story and using testimony given by her mother and aunt, Lesley has talked to a number of school groups, Girl Guides associations and adult groups, including in Burgess Hill, about why the children came to England. For more information, please contact Lesley Urbach by email at lcurbach@aol.com or by ringing 07976 608786. 14 Features 15 D Day in Bayeux 6th June 2019 by Charlotte Carlebach (age 11) This year to mark the 75th anniversary of the D Day landings, I went with my Dad to Bayeux where a special service took place in the British and Commonwealth War Graves cemetery. Also attending the service were veterans who fought at D Day and their families along with serving members of the Army, Navy and Airforce. Sitting with the veterans were the Prime Minister Theresa May, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. The anniversary had particular significance for me because my grandfather (Opi) Julius Carlebach fought on D Day in the Royal Navy. I had the honour of wearing his campaign medals for the service. We met lots of interesting people, including some D Day veterans, some officers from the Guards Regiments and other families of service men who had fought on D Day and the following campaign to liberate Normandy. The service was very moving and included readings from veterans and the Prime Minister. In the middle of the service The Importance of Sharing by Yael Breuer issue 298 | july 2019 there was a pause for a fly past by a Spitfire. After the service my Dad and I walked amongst the servicemen’s graves, paying our tribute to them. I was surprised at how young many of them were and at the number of Jewish graves. On our way back into town, we stopped to pay our respects at the Shoah (Holocaust) memorial to the Jewish citizens of Bayeux who were deported and murdered by the Nazis. Despite the fact it was a long journey I’m very glad I was able to go with my Dad to take part in what is probably the last ceremony with the D Day veterans taking an active role. International speaker and Sharing Economy expert Benita Matofska and photographer Sophie Sheinwald are marking the culmination of three years of research and documentation with the publication of a book about the subject of Sharing worldwide. The book, Generation Share, demonstrates the positive impact that sharing has on the world economy and individuals’ physical and mental wellbeing. It captures some 200 stories and case studies, evidencing how the Sharing Economy is saving and transforming the lives of millions across the world, and its publication coincides with Global Sharing Week, the largest annual international celebration of sharing. Benita, who is the founder of the organisation The People Who Share and is involved with promoting the importance of sharing around the world, has recently initiated a ‘Share for Shabbat’ event which is due to take place at the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue and, she hopes, would be adopted by other congregations as well. “The idea is to encourage congregants to share food and products with people in need in their localities as well as having the opportunity to discuss the importance of sharing,” she says. “The book takes readers on a journey around the globe to meet the people at the forefront of change. For me, the three- year journey to produce Generation Share is the culmination of a decade of work and confirms the power of sharing and the Sharing Economy to transform lives and the planet at large. I wanted to bring much needed hope to the world and show that if we share, we can achieve anything.” Among the various case studies that the book documents from around the world are some positive examples of sharing and collaboration in Israel, which include the Jerusalem Food Cooperative; The Sur Baher Composting project, run by Palestinian women in East Jerusalem; Urban Kibbutz Reshit in a deprived neighbourhood in Jerusalem; ‘Arabian Nights’ dinners cooked and shared by a Muslim woman in Jaffa, which is part of the Israeli initiative EatWith, and the Israeli organisation WEconomize which helps organisations and municipalities design, plan and operate Sharing platforms. Benita and Sophie also interviewed Amos Davidowitz, a leader and activist of the Kibbutz movement, about his optimistic vision of the future of the Kibbutz in Israel, despite the changes of Kibbutzim over the years. Sophie, who describes her work as Photography with Purpose, adds “Throughout the Generation Share photography I found that inner sparkle in people. I take that approach into all my work now and photograph from the inside out. The idea is to get the positive motivational intention of each person and let that spark shine through the book to inspire others”. Generation Share is being published by non-profit publishers Policy Press, who bring books of social impact to readers worldwide and is printed sustainably from waste materials. “Each copy sold”, says Benita, “will plant a tree and educate a slum-based girl in India, helping to share the love with every purchase.” Generation Share is available on Amazon and at bookstores. For information about the Generation Share world tour and dates visit benitamatofska.com 14 Culture / Feature 15 Herman Wouk by Jeremy Rosen Herman Wouk, who died a few weeks ago at the age of 103, was one of the most successful American novelists. Surprisingly, he was also a practising, orthodox Jew. Unlike the current crop of American Jewish novelists (who just love to demean and diminish their Jewish heritage and distance themselves) Herman Wouk was proud of his Jewish religious identity and supportive of traditional Jewish values and an Orthodox life style. During the Second World War he had a distinguished career in the Navy. His experiences there were the background to his first novel Aurora Dawn and then the roaring success, The Caine Munity, written in 1951. It won the Pulitzer prize and was on the best-seller lists for over two years. It was turned into a very successful movie. Then came another best-seller Marjorie Morningstar in 1955, also turned into a successful movie. It was the love story of a beautiful naïve New York Jewish girl from a wealthy, traditional family. Scenes from Jewish religious life introduced Judaism to the wider American public. It too became a very successful movie with Natalie Wood in the lead. Marjorie Morningstar was the first overtly Jewish movie of the post-war era, that dealt openly with questions of Jewish identity in America. It established Wouk as the leading pro- Jewish writer in the English language but soon to be overshadowed by Chaim Potok (author of The Chosen) who wrote about life in the Hassidic community and the tensions between modernity and tradition. Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Philip Roth were great writers and magisterial figures on the world literary scene. Much more acclaimed by the literati and critics. But they had all rejected their Jewish religious identity issue 298 | july 2019 and were heroes of the radical left. Now of course they are unfashionable because they are white males and Jewish to boot. One can argue whether they contributed anything to Jewish life whatsoever. Not so Wouk. His significance for me lay in a small book he wrote ‘This is my God’ in 1959. In it he explained Orthodox Judaism to the wider Jewish and non-Jewish world. In simple prose and without preaching, he describes beautifully what living as an orthodox Jew meant to him and how it contributed in a meaningful way to his life. He describes the richness of traditional ritual and practice in ways that make them accessible to those on the outside. Fifty years on it is still in print and highly readable and relevant. Time Magazine wrote a profile on him which said, “He is a devout Orthodox Jew who had achieved worldly success in worldly-wise Manhattan while adhering to dietary prohibitions and traditional rituals which many of his fellow Jews find embarrassing”. Throughout my career in the Rabbinate and Education I have always recommended This is my God. And I still do, whether to Jew or non-Jew, as the easy first step along the way to learning more about Judaism. His death has made me feel that I have lost a close friend even though I never met him. The American world that Wouk grew up in was one was still heavily antisemitic. Preachers and politicians openly railed against the Jews and their supposedly hidden and venal influence on American life. The old Western European Jews who came to America in the early 1800s and had made their fortunes, were well on their way to complete assimilation. Many of the new Eastern European arrivals at the end of the century were strongly socialist. They were less inclined to be religiously committed. Intent on escaping poverty and so hard- working, they had little time for religion and threw themselves totally into the dominant American society. Even so, hard work and success could overcome a lot of prejudice, as Wouk experienced in the Navy. When Wouk wrote, Reform and Conservative Judaism were completely dominant in the USA. Orthodoxy was a very minor unimportant sliver of the Jewish population. There were still limits on Jews at Ivy League Universities, in the major professions and in government. Most golf and private clubs excluded Jews too. Which explains why so many Americans feared drawing attention to themselves and tried to hide their Jewish identity. It also explains why so many were anti-Zionist too. That was why Wouk was, in his day, so remarkable. Now, fifty years later, much has changed. Orthodoxy has grown exponentially. It is the only sector of American Jewry that is expanding in size and influence. You can now see Orthodox men and women in all the major professions proudly displaying their symbols of Jewish identity in public. Not to mention the large number of Hassidim in the ranks of commerce and industry (as well, of course, within their secure ghettos). Sadly, the old Jew haters remain, Farrakhan and Duke. In Europe and Britain (assuming it leaves the EU) the threat comes from the Fascist Right, the Radical Left, who are now joined by the Labour Party. And new younger voices are gaining traction to replace the old sickos. Whereas Jews are doing well and thriving through their own efforts, and most doors are open, the other side of the coin is all too obvious. Now, on campuses many young Jews are scared to speak up against faculties and student bodies determined to attack and silence them. They often feel they need to hide their Jewish identity in the way they used to in Wouk’s early days. Antipathy towards Jews is rising amongst may communities, to such a crescendo that leading Democrats are now too scared to condemn prejudice and lies for fear of losing votes. Just as, “The poor will never cease from the land,” as the Torah says, so hatred of Jews wherever it comes from and whatever the cause will never cease. But proud spokesmen like Herman Wouk, who can reach a wider audience, not just preach to the converted, are worth their weight in gold. We have lost a great one. Let us hope that a new generation will emerge. Reproduced with kind permission of the author. 16 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 17 In Pursuit of Peace by Rabbi Hershel Rader The Sidra of Chukat, read on 13 July, tells us of the the word ‘shout’ and wrote above it ‘whisper’. Shouting passing of Aharon, brother of Moshe and High Priest of at people and pointing out their shortcomings will not the Jewish people for nearly forty years. It states that awaken them from their spiritual slumber. Whispering, a ‘all the House of Israel wept for Aharon thirty days.’ The kind and gentle approach, is so much more effective. Rabbis comment that the words ‘all the house of Israel’ indicate both the men and women. Aharon’s passing was mourned by all because he sought to bring peace between those who argued and, particularly, between husband and wife. Indeed, in the first chapter of the Ethics of the Fathers we are taught, ‘Be amongst the disciples of Aharon - loving peace, pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them near to Torah.’ The word used in Ethics of the Fathers for ‘people’ is Beriot, which has the literal meaning ‘creations’. Aaron’s example was to love everyone; including those that could be described as ‘creations’ - people whose only redeeming feature seems to be that they are G-d’s creations! Yet the path of Aharon was to find the hidden good that exists within everyone. Through his teachings and personal example he taught a path of recognising the Aharon devoted himself to carrying out the command ‘love incredible potential for good in each person. your fellow as yourself’ to the highest degree. The Midrash relates how he attracted people to the teachings of the Torah. He never became angry if people failed to meet the expectations of Jewish law. He would greet everyone with warmth and a smile. People he encountered would think, The Sages tell us that it is through love of one’s fellow that the redemption of the Jewish people will take place. By striving to emulate Aharon we can play our part in making this a reality. ‘If Aharon the High Priest greets me so warmly he must think I am a very worthy person. I must improve myself!’ In this way, simply through pleasantness and warmth, Aaron encouraged the Jews of his generation to feel closer to the ideals of the Torah. Rabbi Moshe Feller relates that he once wrote an article which he sent to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for his comments. One of the points Rabbi Feller made in the article was that if a person is in a state of unconsciousness they say that one should shout his name into his ear in order to awaken him. Similarly, if a Jew appears far from Judaism one should shout his ‘name’ to him; shout that he is a Jew to remind him of his true identity. The Rebbe crossed out issue 298 | july 2019 For your calendar Shabbat Dinner The Dinner for Friday Night 6th July is SOLD OUT Bookings are now being taken for Friday 3 August at 8.00 pm. Just £10.00 for a fully catered, three course meal. Catered Lunch & Learn Wednesday 11 July, 12.15 - 1.30 pm. Just £7.50 for a fully catered, three course meal. Places are limited. All welcome. Bookings should be made via the Shul Office by ringing 01273 888 855 or emailing office@ bhhc-shul.org Our Annual Summer Barbeque will take place this year on Sunday 1 September in the Shul grounds from 12.30 pm. Great food and atmosphere. Adults - £17.50, children - £7.50. Book your place by contacting the Shul office on 01273 888 855 or office@bhhc-shul.org. Bookings must be made by Thursday 22 August. 16 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 17 Be the change for the better, for we are the future by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer I wrote this article on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, when the face of injustice just does not cut the mustard I’m I had an interesting conversation with a friend, an ex- afraid. The politician who turns a blind eye to criminality Immigration Law judge. As he is extremely familiar with does not deserve the office, however nice or charismatic the workings of the British military, we began to speak their personality. In an age of predominantly electronic of several subjects including conflict strategy, military correspondence, it is all too easy to simply ‘tweet’ or psychology, well-being for soldiers and the role of an go on ‘Facebook’, but that does not necessarily call for army within Jewish ideology and theology. Each of these reflective evaluation of a situation before putting pen to themes would be deserving of a Ph.D., but what emerged paper. Which brings me full circle to the subject of the above all else was a discussion on the imperative for military and D-Day, because a just nation requires an army communal and societal enhancement and preservation. to act as a deterrent. This, therefore, necessitates true After all, a civilised nation usually goes to war either to leadership and the moral courage and clarity about when remove a potential threat or to improve an already bad to wage war in the face of evil. situation. On the eve of Shavuot, the Festival of Pentecost, which In an age when we are, hopefully, ever increasingly being screams of Divine revelation here on earth for the only time made aware of our collective responsibilities to preserve in human history, we gave sincere thanks to those men of and protect our environment, whether it be issues all the Allied Forces and of such tender age who fell and surrounding global-warming and climate change; toxic fought seventy-five years ago so that Nazi tyranny would pollution of our seas, plastic waste, animal poaching, not prevail. It is indeed a Memorial Day, but it should also the destruction of vast areas of forestry (which has a shed light and impetus on our own lives so that we ask the directly detrimental effect on our eco-system), the huge cogent questions that transform this deceptively mundane reduction in global accessibility to fresh water supplies for human existence into a much higher calling. If we do not, human consumption and numerous other highly urgent then we do so at our own peril and passively perpetuate and concerning issues, I ask myself why vast segments the individualistic philosophy pervading this generation of society have chosen to either ignore these issues over and above community and communal responsibility. completely or they do not promote awareness and care sufficiently in each of these domains. In the same vein, we are constantly bombarded with discussions in the media on issues of human rights, equality and human dignity etc. As if to say that these subjects have come to light all of ten minutes ago! If anybody were to read and delve into the Hebrew Bible (Torah) he/she will most readily recognise the cry for human rights and dignity that permeates throughout. Outside of the frum (religious) camp, in the United Synagogue alone, the number of congregants and the Synagogue membership are dwindling. There are several factors for this phenomenon, one of which I believe is a growing sense of irrelevance. In this era of blatant irreverence for institutions as well as people in position, ritual alone simply will not suffice. There needs to be a massive re-focus. With that I do not mean the removal of traditional ritual, but the addition of heightened awareness and urgency on matters pertaining to our environment as well as societal concerns. These are actually our concerns and in my humble opinion, active campaigning RALLI HALL LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB (Registered Charity No.1142922) PRESENTS should be an integral part of Jewish life. I believe that sometimes, because the keeping of practical Mitzvot and praying thrice a day can be rather all-encompassing A BRIDGE & KALOOKI AFTERNOON AT RALLI HALL DENMARK VILLAS HOVE and time consuming, there is a danger that one may (£2.15 Parking Fee at Hove Railway Station) turn inwards and closet oneself within the walls of that which is comfortably familiar. The way of life set out for us for millennia within Halacha can become a form FRIENDLY COMPETITION – WITH PRIZES ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15th 2019 AT 2.00PM of incarceration if not checked regularly. Ethics are fundamental to the very core of what it means to be a Jew and not merely an extra-curricular activity. Which is why true leadership calls for acting correctly and justly when needs must. In fact, this is the only litmus Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com DONATION £10.00 INCLUDING TEA TICKETS FROM ALAN BURKE - 01273 416335 AND RALLI HALL 01273 739999 test for moral integrity. The Rabbi who remains silent in issue 298 | july 2019 18 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 19 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Moon-Watching by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Fifty years ago, on 21 July 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC (Co- dawns so to speak in darkness. Appropriately, Chanukkah ordinated Universal Time), American astronaut, Commander falls in the dark final days of Kislev and first dark days of Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Tevet. Meanwhile, four festivals commence at the full moon: Eagle and walked on the moon. 19 minutes later, he was Pesach on 15 Nisan, Sukkot on 15 Tishri, Tu Bishvat – the joined by Lunar Module pilot, Buzz Aldrin. Meanwhile, New Year for Trees – on 15 Sh’vat and Purim on 14 Adar. By Command Module pilot, Michael Collins flew the Command contrast, Shavuot falls on 6 Sivan, when the moon appears as Module Columbia alone in lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin a crescent, and at Yom Kippur on 10 Tishri and Tishah B’Av collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to earth. on the 9 Av, the moon is becoming a two-thirds disc in the (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11) sky. Aged 14, I remember sitting with my family watching the TV Of course, the moon has a tremendous impact on planet pictures on a clear night in London. As I marvelled at the Earth, causing a huge gravitational pull that makes the flickering images, I kept glancing at the slender crescent of oceans rise and fall – what we call the tides. The earth lives, the new moon with a sense of wonder. Suddenly, the moon quite literally, by the moon as well as by the sun. So, maybe had become another world and I never looked at it in the we should pay it more attention. As it happens, awareness same way again. of the moon is incorporated into Jewish practice. Each new So, an unforgettable moment and a date to remember. I doubt few people remember the Hebrew date. Interestingly, lift-off from the Kennedy Space Centre took place on the new moon, Rosh Chodesh Av 5729 – corresponding to 16 July 1969 – which explains why six days later when that iconic space walk took place, the moon appeared as a crescent in the night sky. It was only when I embarked on rabbinic training at the Leo Baeck College in the autumn of 1984, that I became conscious of the waxing and waning moon cycle as I followed the Hebrew months that follow the moon. Most of us are not aware of the Hebrew date each day but the arrival of a special day in the calendar prompts remembrance. Rosh Ha-Shanah, falling as it does on the 1 day of the 7th month of Tishri, moon is announced on the Shabbat beforehand and Rosh Chodesh (first of the month) is celebrated with the insertion of the Ya’aleh v’yavo prayer into the first of the three concluding blessings of the Amidah, the recital of half-Hallel – half the celebratory psalms recited on the pilgrim festivals – and a special Torah reading. During the past forty years, Rosh Chodesh has also been reclaimed as a women’s festival by Jewish women meeting in Rosh Chodesh groups at the start of each month to celebrate and study together. Perhaps, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, clear skies permitting, we might consider following the changing moon from day-to-day. Happy moon- watching! Events@BHPS Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli For those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. Classes on Shabbat 2.15 - 3.45pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. Unit 6: Jewish History and Geography • 6 July: Jewish History & Geography I • 13 July: Jewish History & Geography II • 20 July: Tishah B’Av & Jewish Memory No classes during the summer. Classes resume in the autumn. Access to Classical Hebrew With Rabbi Elli, Shabbat afternoons, 1.00 to 2.00 pm Open to students of all levels. To join, please contact the synagogue. issue 298 | july 2019 Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11am to 4pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. Annual General Meeting The Synagogue AGM will take place on Wednesday 3 July at 6.30 pm. On this occasion we will also be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Rabbi Elli Sarah and Rabbi Danny Rich’s ordinations. voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com 18 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 19 BrightonReform Lessons from Rome and Jerusalem by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo These are worrisome times for us British Jews. If, God forbid, Jeremy Corbyn and his acolytes come into power, the British Jewish community as it currently is, will most likely be under attack for a number of reasons. These people are not happy that young Jews spend their gap years in Israel. They question our rights to produce and eat kosher meat. And don’t expect them to understand our need of security! Last month a registered member of the Labour Party, was caught writing Internet messages organising, literally, an assault on “the Synagogue in Hove”. These are serious reasons to be fearful of the future. But I must say that, despite everything, I feel a sense of calm and tranquillity. True, I sometimes wonder whether my children will move to Israel one day, but I do not see my own future outside of this country. I am not scared and if you want to know where such confidence comes from, I should tell you about my last trip to Rome. While I was strolling in the alleyways of the old Jewish neighbourhood, the Ghetto, I thought of what the same alleyways used to look like twenty or thirty years ago. At that time Italy had a strong Communist Party, which was the biggest in Western Europe. It dissolved in 1989, but its officials moved to other parties and brought with them the same antisemitic ideology that is the core belief of the current leadership of the Labour Party. Massimo D’Alema, former director of the Communist newspaper, was Prime Minister in 2006. The photo of him hand in hand, literally, with the leader of Hezbollah is one of the most fearful pictures you can see. Later he had the cheek to explain that, “Hezbollah is a perfectly legitimate Party”. issue 298 | july 2019 The whole former Communist Party, which came into power in the 90s, was a threat for us Jews. Even less pleasant was the amount of antisemitic messages that Synagogues received, whenever the situation in the Middle East became tense. Then, over time, things changed. This generation of politicians, all more or less relics of the Cold War and whose CVs are so familiar (they generally include holidays in East Germany and support for the IRA), retired, grew old, or were defeated by internal opponents. Now, the Italian Left has more reasonable, younger, and more intelligent leaders (some of them Jewish, I must say). Left wing antisemitism is now, in Italy, a fringe phenomenon. There are other threats from the Far Right and Muslim fundamentalism, but the Far Left is now a caricature of what it used to be. Hence, probably, the sense of calm and lack of anxiety by which I face my future as a British Jew. I am not afraid because I know we are stronger. It may well be that, much as the Israelites in these weeks’ Torah portions, we are at the beginning of a journey through the wilderness, and we will have to face serious attacks. But we can take inspiration from Israel. There, a Jewish Community, or if you like many Jewish communities, not only survives but blossoms despite everything, despite being surrounded by enemies far worse than Massimo D’Alema or Jeremy Corbyn. The passion for Israel, and the strength of Zionist feeling, have given to the Rome Jewish community strong motivation to resist in the face of a hostile atmosphere. We also may be facing difficult times in the future, but we have seen worse and we have survived. Bulletin Board – July Regular Events Fridays Kuddle Up Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 am July Events Friday 5 Shabbat Kolot – Creative & Traditional Service, 6.30 pm Saturday 6 Shabbat Doroteinu & Shabbaton, 10.30 am Sunday 7 Last day of Cheder Term, 9.50 am Stone setting of Rene Arlen z’l, 3.30 pm Sunday 21 BHRS AGM, 6.30 pm Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue Cheder Teacher You will need: • a teaching or youth work qualification • teaching experience • to be a Hebrew speaker Individual Needs Assistant You will need: • previous experience supporting children with SEN For both roles you will need: • to share Reform Judaism values • to be available on term time Sunday mornings For a Role description please contact: Liz Shaw, Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeria Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE. Tel: 01273 735343 Application by CV to: Sara Bucciarelli at chederbhrs@bh-rs.org 20 What’s on: July 2019 IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org vehicle. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE or editor@sjn.org.uk JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, 20 COMMUNITY EvENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: HOVE. The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 5 8.58 pm Sat 6 10.25 pm REGULAR ACTIvITIES Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Fri 12 8.53 pm Sat 13 10.18 pm Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Fri 19 8.46 pm Sat 20 10.08 pm Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Fri 26 8.37 pm Sat 27 9.56 pm Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to SPECIAL DATES Sunday 21 Fast of Tammuz – Fast ends 9.44 pm our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every EvENTS IN JULY other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Tuesday 2 Gil Hovav guest speaker on ‘My Great, Great Grandfather, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, and the Revival of the Hebrew Language’ at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 7.30 pm FREE event. Contact: ashley.woolfe@ bnjc.co.uk Thursday 4 JACS with speaker Bev Cohen on ‘What’s a nice Jewish girl doing working for a Muslim charity?’. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove Public Lecture organised by the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex with speaker Professor Shirli Gilbert ‘South African Jews, the Holocaust, and Apartheid’ at 4.00 pm Conference Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Centre, Terrace Room, Bramber House, University of Sussex. Contact d.franklin@sussex.ac.uk Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Friday 5 Wednesdays Shabbat Dinner at Heene Road Community Centre, Heene. Entrance in Winchester Road, Worthing, 6.30 for 7.00 pm. Members £10/non- members £12. Contact: westsussexjc@jmail.com or phone 01273 728178 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Sunday 7 Thursdays Middle Street Synagogue Open Afternoon Monday 8 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the August 2019 issue Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Sunday 14 Garden PiqueNique à la Française in the garden of Worthing Quaker Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 House. Games, bring and buy for charity. Doors open 2.00 for 2.30 pm. Members £7/non-members £10. Contact: westsussexjc@jmail.com or phone 01273 728178 Fridays kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Wednesday 17 Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL Sussex Jewish Golfing Society meeting at the Dyke Golf Club when it will be playing for the Sugarman Trophy, Contact ashley@sportscastnet. com WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Friday 26 Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, Helping Hands Saba and Safta Friday Night Supper 5.30 – 7.30 pm at BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. Donation £7.00 Saturdays Sunday 28 Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans Annual Arts Exhibition at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 2.00 – 5.00 pm Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Wednesday 31 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal AJEX Annual Members & Families Tea at Middle Farm, nr. Firle BN8 6LJ. £10.50 Per person. Tickets & Membership available from Moss 01273 777351 Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Ending Saturday 21 September Please note that our next issue will be August 2019. The Worthing Museum & Art Gallery Chapel Road, Worthing. Internationally known artist Robert Koenig exhibition ‘Memorial Structures’ Reliefs and sculptural carvings remember war and concentration camp victims deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 8th July 2019 issue 298 | july 2019 -
Issue 297
June 2019
whAt’S InSIde.... RALLI hALL jewISh ARtS FeStIVAL | the tAILOR OF hAnnInGtOnS | unIVeRSItY OF SuSSeX PuBLIC LeCtuRe | ZOe’S MOVe | whAt’S On | And MORe june 2019 • IYYAR – SIVAn 5779 • ISSue 297 2 Pause for Thought 3 SJN, true to its name, provides inside the covers of SJN, we aspect of any advertisements a mouthpiece for the Jewish have a set of guidelines printed or announcements. communities of Sussex. It has social sections for Your News and Your Views, more newsworthy reports on events and community organisations and features. Readers will at the bottom of page 3, the Contents page. From time to time we like to point this out because we appreciate that people don’t always read the small print. • SJN welcomes readers’ contributions but reserves the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. frequently find articles from Helping Hands, Hyman Fine Readers are reminded that: When it comes to disputes over something you may have read in House, Ralli Hall and other • SJN is not allied to any SJN, please remember that SJN organisations. What you won’t synagogue or group and the is merely the messenger. find is SJN taking sides or misrepresenting issues involving third parties. SJN does not play “piggy in the middle”. views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN. We leave it to parties to resolve their disputes themselves: we • SJN accepts advertisements are amenable only to publishing and announcements in good the outcome of that resolution. To remind you of our stance faith but does not endorse regarding articles and any products or services and announcements that may appear does not accept liability for any Front Cover - Photo of Peltiphyllum Peltatum taken by a rockpool at Emmetts Garden by Brian Megitt. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. issue 297 | june 2019 ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER IMAGE Brian Megitt the Jewish community across the region. PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 7 JUNE 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 A VIEW OF SPRING by Brian Megitt 8 ZEH RAK DA’ATI 8 Godfrey Gould on writing 9 THE TAILOR OF HANNINGTONS Winston Pickett on the documentary about Alfred Huberman z’l 11 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX PUBLIC LECTURE Professor Shirli Gilbert on South African Jews, the Holocaust and Apartheid 11 POEM FOR SPRING By Evelyn Lipman z’l REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 10 CULTURE History, poetry and more 16 WHAT’S ON – JUNE Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 12 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 13 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 14 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 15 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: £40 per Flyer Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements and announcements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements or announcements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 297 | june 2019 MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Special Birthdays Deaths Mazel tov to Doris Davis, Janet Green and Hilary Marks and We wish Long Life to: all who have special birthdays this month. • Marilyn Magrill and Pauline Duncan on the death of their Weddings mother Helen Gellert z’l • David Felsenstein on the death of his brother Andrew z’l • Mazel tov to the Kenton, Huberman and Jebreel families on the forthcoming wedding of Zac Kenton and Roxana. • The families of Rose Goodman z’l, Felicity (Fizz) Morris z’l and Lily Stetson z’l • We wish a big mazel tov to Zack Pittack and Daisy Teuton on the occasion of their wedding in June. • Rita Mitchell and family on the death of her husband Ronald (Ronnie) z’l Special Anniversaries Thank you Mazel tov to Wendy and Michael Lovegrove on the celebration of their special anniversary. Achievements Mazel tov to Dr Rebecca Shtasel who was awarded a Susan and David Rose and Luan would like to thank all their wonderful friends and family for their help and messages of condolence on the tragic loss of their daughter Amber. Due to the large number we are very sorry that we are unable to reply individually to all of them. PhD from the University of Sussex on her thesis ‘Memory, influence and leadership: resilience and resistance of workers in Le Havre 1936-1944’. Honour for Simon Hatchwell At a meeting in Essaouira at the beginning of May with M. Andre Azoulay (Counsellor to the King of Morocco), a new synagogue committee was chosen and Simon Hatchwell Stonesetting • The consecration of the memorial stone in loving memory of Sonia Isaacson z’l will take place on Sunday 16 June at 12 noon at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton • The consecration of the memorial stone in loving memory of Frances Shepherd z’l will take place on Sunday 16 June at 2.00 pm at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton elected as President of the Essaouira Jewish Community. 2019 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival at Ralli Hall Community Centre The 2019 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival is the first of a series of annual events celebrating Sussex Jewish art and design, photography, pottery, sculpture, fashion, Judaica, music, crafts and more. It will be held on Sunday July 28th from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Brighton has long been a recognised city and centre of the great British arts. The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival aims to showcase the artistic creativity that thrives within the Jewish community across Brighton, Sussex and South East. Roger Abrahams, Ralli Hall Community Centre Honorary Chairman said, “When I visit the Jewish Art Society which is run by Rochelle Oberman here at Ralli Hall, I am simply amazed just how much artistic talent and creativity are prevalent in our community. This Ralli Hall event can be a showcase of this talent with a one-day event where people can visit, network and celebrate the arts and crafts within the local community”. The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival is a one-day free entry event complemented by refreshments and music. Anyone involved in any aspect of Jewish arts and crafts can get involved and display their work. issue 297 | june 2019 Hopefully also this event will encourage other talented people to come out of their homes, workshops and studios to get involved in local Jewish arts activities and groups, such as theatre and drama, song and dance, digital art and film making. It’s a great way to exchange techniques, express views with like-minded people and make new friends. Maxine Gordon, Ralli Hall Centre Manager said, “The centre is absolutely buzzing with excitement with all the different community activities and events that take place in the building. Recently we held a barn dance which was a total success and so much fun that we have been asked to run another one this year. The Arts Festival will become a prominent annual event in the Sussex Jewish calendar and we are in discussions with local groups regarding more exciting planned events and activities at Ralli Hall”. For more information regarding the 2019 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival please contact Maxine Gordon on 01273 202254, email rallihallcentre@gmail.com or visit www. rallihallcommunitycentre.com. 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com 4 Sussex and the City 5 Rose Goodman z’l by Stephanie Ramezan Rose, known to most of expressed her love through food the family as Nana, (even - whatever food we wanted, to those who weren’t her even doughnuts and ice cream grandchildren) was born in bed for breakfast! in 1926 into a family of fishmongers - Daniels’ of Willesden and Dollis Hill. She was the firstborn, followed six years later by her sister Zena. Despite her hardships, Nana never complained and she was a bit of a trail blazer for her time. In later years we discovered she was also a talented artist Like most children of that (albeit being asked to leave era, Nana did not exactly her art class due to disruptive lead a charmed life; she was behaviour, at the age of 85!) evacuated to Wales during Of course, her main hobby the war, however was soon and love was bridge, playing moved on and separated from multiple times a week even up her sister as she was a very until a few months ago. I asked difficult child and the family couldn’t cope with her. Being her once what advice would she give to others, based on her difficult was a character trait she embraced and developed to life experiences, - her reply, “Learn to play bridge”. Nana’s a fine art, and carried through triumphantly right until her final mind was sharp as a tack even at the end. But the highlight days! of her week had to be Friday afternoons with her daughter Nana married her husband Sam in 1949 at the age of 23, at 25 she had her first daughter Anne, then came her son Michael, followed by Jennifer in 1957. They moved to and daughter-in-law, where she could be found, at Marks and Spencer’s during the winter months, or at the cafe on Hove seafront in summer time. Brighton where the family business was “The Institution” - Nana never asked for help, even at the age of 92, she thought Goodman’s Deli, which is probably what she is remembered she knew better and was not going to be told what to do for, by anyone who has lived in the town for many years. under any circumstances. This included still driving despite Nana was not destined for an easy life. In 1957, in the same year that Jennifer was born, her first tragedy struck: she poor vision and hearing and even a driving misdemeanour, which meant she had to go to speed school. lost her husband, Sam, in the Polio epidemic and so was Nana was the embodiment of resilience, endurance and widowed at the age of 31, with three young children and now female independence. Life dealt her a lot of lemons, but a business to run. But Nana was not going to be defeated - to her credit, she just made a lot of lemonade (and pickled the story goes that the very next day she was walking on the cucumbers). To quote Margaret Thatcher, also known as the seafront with the three children, lipstick on and a smile on her Iron Lady - Nana was in fact our Iron Lady. Being powerful is face. like being a lady, if you have to tell people you are, then you Nana’s way of coping was to throw herself into the running aren’t. of the shop - her new green pickled cucumbers reached Stephanie Ramezan is Rose Goodman’s eldest legendary status. Over the years Goodman’s Deli became a granddaughter and this obituary has been assembled from Sunday morning haven for the Jewish community in Brighton collective family memories. and Hove. Nana ran the shop full time for over 30 years, waking at 4am every morning to prepare the goods, and for the first few years walked the mile every day from home carrying everything in baskets. Obviously, she had to learn to drive – she taught herself (with all the children in the back of the car!). A second tragedy hit the family in 1992: having lost her husband when he was in his 30s, she then lost her son Michael when he was a similar young age. Like her husband Sam, Michael also left behind a wife and young children, Debra, Charlotte and Samuel. What followed was not easy for the family, but Nana continued to show her stoic resolve, taking everything in her stride. She was the most wonderful grandmother to Stephanie, Alicia, Charlotte, Samuel and Sheldon and more recently great-grandmother to Leora - she learned the news that her second great-grandchild was on the way, just before she passed away. She often issue 297 | june 2019 6 Sussex and the City 7 Hyman Fine House by Natasha Carson I have just finished organising our trip for six care home We definitely gained a few new fans and would like to say a residents, supported by staff and family members to see huge thank you to Tony Bloom for inviting us along and to Brighton and Hove Albion play Manchester City at the Amex The Bloom Foundation for their continued support of Hyman for their last match of the Premiership season, on Sunday 12 Fine”. May. As you read this you will of course know the score! For the football fans living in our home this is a dream come true, so I’m sure whatever the score we will all have smiles on our faces. After the match, Alan Bass said, “it was a really special day as I didn’t think that I’d ever be able to go and see another football game together with my son, Paul. In fact, all three of my boys are big Brighton fans. It was also incredible to see the trophy presentation, even if it wasn’t for the right team, I’d never seen that before in all my years as a fan”. Some of you may already be aware of the PJ Library, which donates pop-up libraries of Jewish children’s books. This is a wonderful idea as it unites people of all ages. We are fortunate to have our very own pop-up library in our sunny new garden room. If you have little ones that you would like to bring along to read a book or collect eggs from our chickens. just let us know. It’s very special to have the younger generation getting to know our Alan Bass, Ruth Block, Sarah Francis (carer), Zena Cutler, Sheila Goldring, Jenny Goldberg, Suthasini Luekwilai (laundry asst) with Natasha Carlson, Home Manager, Claire Leigh. Resident of Jewish Care’s Hyman Fine House, Jenny Goldberg, who has always lived in the Brighton area, was delighted to go and support her local team. Fellow resident and football fan, Alan Bass, 85, has supported his local team for 55 years and moved to Jewish Care’s Hyman Fine House in March 2017. Having grown up in London, he is also a fervent Arsenal supporter and as a young supporter, when he couldn’t go to see his team play away, he’d always go to another London game instead. Natasha said, “Quite a few of the residents and staff had never been to a match before so it was very exciting seeing a Premiership trophy awarded, even if wasn’t to Brighton! It was a great experience and the residents were very appreciative. residents who really enjoy our little visitors from Brighton College pre-schoolers and the Torah Montessori Nursery. If you would like to learn more about volunteering in the home, please contact Natasha or Mark on 01273 688226. Did you know - volunteering doesn’t have to be every week - we have some lovely volunteers who come only on High Holy Days and others just in the school holidays. There’s a role for everyone! issue 297 | june 2019 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons We had lovely weather for the second meeting of our golfing season at Cuddington Golf Club in Banstead, Surrey. There was a large attendance at this picturesque course located on the North Downs, with panoramic views of the London skyline as far as Wembley Stadium. We performed well in our match at The Dyke against Hartsbourne Golf and Country Club and it was great to meet again our friends from this prestigious club from Stanmore. June will be even busier with our next meeting at Copthorne Golf Club near Gatwick on 20 June and a match against the Early Birds Golf Society at The Dyke. Sadly, our annual match in June against Potters Bar Golf Club will be no more as that Hertfordshire club, founded by Jewish businessmen, has now closed. The main event in June will be at Sandy Lodge Golf Course in Northwood which hosts the Metropolitan golf tournament played between the London Jewish golf clubs and societies, including ourselves, organised and played under the auspices of The Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies. We are hoping that fine weather will greet the one hundred golfers and guests at this prestigious tournament. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com 6 Sussex and the City 7 Zoe’s Move by Ralph and Irene, Miriam and Zoe May Eighteen months ago, our feisty young daughter Zoe moved All the support is from Sussex Tikvah, the Jewish residential care home in deeply appreciated Brighton, run by Norwood, to Langdon Supported Living in and wisely spent on Edgware. For 15 years Tikvah provided superlative care to essential resources Zoe, which resulted in giving her the confidence to feel she no to keep Langdon longer needed 24/7 care and wanted to be more independent going. Do also look - like many young people of her age with learning disabilities. out for Zoe’s letter She wanted to share a flat with other young women in a Jewish environment. So, when she discovered this was possible in Edgware, she was thrilled and moved away from the comfort zone of Tikvah and parents down the road. She now gets daily support in her flat, has a paid job 3 days a week, attending weekly social events and an occasional art class run by a Jewish volunteer, which she loves. She meets friends on Friday nights and is taking responsibility for her about her new life at Langdon, in a future issue of SJN. Gratitude is evident by the enthusiasm and the as-close-to- normal lives of Zoe and her new friends. decisions. Few things give However, in this age of austerity, care organisations like Langdon have an uphill financial struggle to recruit and retain the skilled staff they need to support young people like Zoe. Several, like Southern Cross and Four Seasons Care Homes have recently collapsed. Zoe has therefore persuaded Dad to accept the new Langdon Velo Challenge on their tandem ((in Spain!) to raise much needed funds to support Langdon. In previous years they did the annual Capital to Coast ride for Norwood and Tikvah. parents like us greater joy than seeing our children fulfilled by getting the high-quality support necessary to enable them to overcome their academic, medical, physical and psychological problems which are often inevitable aspects of learning disability. Just as a society is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable people, our Jewish community is enhanced by how it supports learning disabled members whose Jewish identity is their anchor. Please visit our web-page at www.justgiving.com/ralph-may and donate whatever you can. Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer By the time this is published we will just be back from our weekend in Eastbourne with 32 members and volunteers. On 2 May JACS joined us for their monthly meeting, which is held on the 1st Thursday of the month. Their very interesting speaker was Sir Andrew Bowden, whose talk was enjoyed by all members. We are always looking forward to welcoming new members to The Lunch and Social Club at Ralli Hall. You can meet up with old friends and cultivate new friendships in a relaxed and congenial atmosphere. We meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 4pm and while the three-course hot lunch (kosher not supervised) is the focus of our day, we also have exercise classes in the morning along with a discussion group and crossword sessions. After lunch we have a variety of entertainers and activities which include bridge, kalooki, rummikub, guest speakers, art and musical entertainment. Tea, coffee and biscuits are served both mornings and afternoons. At a minimum cost we can offer safe, assisted transport from your home to and from our venue. We would be happy to welcome new members who can bring their lifetime of experiences to our group. We would love to hear from you so please contact me on 01273 739999 or ralliday@tiscali.co.uk for further details. Forthcoming Attractions: • Sunday 30 June – Top Hat and the Lunch and Social Club – Cabaret and Sunday night bagel supper issue 297 | june 2019 • Tuesday 2 July – Silver string Orchestra are coming to play for us at 2pm • Sunday 15 September – Card afternoon Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club - £10 a ticket We have just started a new summer menu so why don’t you come along and give it a try? Hope the weather will start to improve soon and look forward to seeing you. RALLI HALL LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB (Registered Charity No.1142922) PRESENTS A BRIDGE & KALOOKI AFTERNOON AT RALLI HALL DENMARK VILLAS HOVE (£2.15 Parking Fee at Hove Railway Station) FRIENDLY COMPETITION – WITH PRIZES ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15th 2019 AT 2.00PM DONATION £10.00 INCLUDING TEA TICKETS FROM ALAN BURKE - 01273 416335 AND RALLI HALL 01273 739999 8 Features 9 Zeh Rak Da’ati 8 by Godfrey R Gould “Words, words, words.” but generally when I read what I (W. Shakespeare, ‘Hamlet’, Act II, send for publication it leaves me Scene 2). reasonably satisfied. Although As I press the ‘Send’ key on my computer my words, over which I have slaved for many an hour, disappear into the ether to reappear, hopefully, in print or on line a month, maybe later. But if anybody should bother to read my offerings I do not know. Occasionally somebody will mention how they have read my work and even shown some appreciation. But never so much as with my article in this series last April when I wrote of my late wife Maureen. I have been very much moved by all the comments that I have received from so many people. I have considered the content and layout in my mind before ‘I put pen to paper’, it is always the very first words that are the most difficult to construct, and the most critical. Once I have passed that hurdle everything just flows. Until I get to the end. Just as the opening should make the reader feel that this is something with which I want to continue, the ending must leave the reader satisfied, maybe intrigued, and certainly, provided with resolution. But having completed the article, study or review there comes the long period of re-reading, refining, Like many others I have been writing one way or another since my school days. In some ways I was quite innovative, writing, for example, instead of an essay on King Richard I, I submitted a play. I also wrote much, in retrospect often re-writing, correcting and justifying until the time must come to put the whole effort to bed. Even as I write these very words, I shall press the ‘Save’ key and return to my words tomorrow, and the day after, and probably the day after that. rubbish, for the school magazine. Then when I was at university, inevitably I wrote more, though this was generally academic. I still have a dissertation I wrote on “The Rhinns of Galloway” and reading it today I am ashamed of my naivety Does this piece have a proper beginning, a middle and an end? And does the middle take you logically and steadily from that beginning to that end? And are you satisfied? You must be the judge. and total lack of discipline. But when as a postgraduate student I wrote a dissertation on “The Brighton & Hove Comprehensive School” I received Jewish Welfare Board ‘alpha minus’ although I had not then ever been in one! But in the following two years I learnt from bitter experience what teaching in a poorly funded one was really like. provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable As I progressed up the professional for single occupancy and a one and managerial ladder I had to write much more in an official capacity, especially reports and minutes, although I did also contribute occasionally to professional journals. Writing minutes of decisions of local government committees could be full of pitfalls, as I learnt when my version of some delegated authority, and which I specifically precise and thus was misinterpreted. The egg was on my face. Later, when I still had to write reports usually on policy issues, there were committee clerks to do the minutes for me. So I had somebody else to blame, though the responsibility was still mine. But apart from accuracy and interpretation I learnt in the following years much more. Between 1996 and 1999 I was a student at the University of Sussex and all our work involved research assignments with submissions of between 2,000 and 10,000 words. This may seem an awful lot, but when you are amassing information you soon discover that it is rarely enough. On one occasion my tutor wrote, “We know you know a great deal, but you don’t have to tell us everything you know”. The procedure, I discovered, is to cut, cut, and cut again. And then when you’ve got to the absolute minimum, cut again. I also learnt the importance of justifying your information. Bibliographies may look impressive, but the source of every statement must be precisely identified. At the same time, I started writing book reviews. Of the two journals for which I wrote the second was more satisfactory. I had greater control and selection over the books which I reviewed. But all reviewers were subject to a very strict limit over the number of words they could use - only 200. It is remarkable how much information and justified opinion you can condense within such tight limitations. So now, when I even bedroom unfurnished flat suitable just see a review which goes on for for a couple. paragraphs, or even pages, I simply The rent includes central heating; switch off. All anybody needs to constant hot water; use of garden; know is what the book or play television and telephone points. or programme is about, whether it is worth reading or seeing or whatever, and why. That’s enough. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email I doubt whether I have honed bahjha@googlemail.com had actually concocted, was not my writing skills to the ultimate, issue 297 | june 2019 8 Features 9 The Tailor of Hanningtons Returns to the Small Screen by Winston Pickett A 30-minute film of a Hove Holocaust survivor produced 20 years ago has been recently digitized and released to the public, for the first time, by Screen Archive South East. ‘The Tailor of Hanningtons’, filmed and directed by Luke Holland, is an intimate conversation with the late Alfred Huberman, at his brightly lit workroom overlooking Pavilion Gardens, shortly before the Brighton department store closed its doors in the summer of 2001. Huberman, born in Poland in 1927, was a child during the Second World War. He is shown expounding on his craft as a tailor, his reflections on 45 years of full-time professional life coming to an end, as well as the intricacies and pleasures of his work - all interspersed with recollections of dislocation, internments in Nazi slave-labour camps and reflections on the need to tell his story ‘unabashedly’ to Jews and non- Jews alike. issue 297 | june 2019 Huberman, who died in 2011, first moved to Hove in 1946 after having been liberated by the Red Army from the Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp outside Prague. Soon afterward he was given refuge by the Home Office as part of a government-sponsored airlift of 300 child survivors flown to Windermere, in the Lake District, for rehabilitation to start new lives. Chronicled by Martin Gilbert in his book, The Boys, a copy of which, along with other memorabilia appear in the film, Huberman’s experiences have been preserved by the Lake District Holocaust Project (LDHP)http://ldhp.org.uk on the website www.alfredhuberman.com. In the film, whilst he continues to sew and press garments during the interview, Huberman describes how he discovered that his sister Ides was alive and living in Paris. Sadly, she died of cancer in her 50s. He reflects on the remainder of his large family with “dozens and dozens” of cousins, uncles and aunts who perished in the war, including his four other siblings, his parents and his school friends. At one juncture, he relates that he keeps their memory alive by regularly recalling their names. “I’m the only one who has a living memory of them”, he says. It was at Windermere, convalescing from tuberculosis, that Huberman discovered from his sister Ides, who had miraculously survived the war, that a distant relative, Sophie, lived in Hove. She and her husband, Lou, travelled to Windermere and, following successive visits convinced Alfred to stay with them in Hove. There he met Sophie’s father, an established tailor with several shops and he soon began his apprenticeship in that profession. Later, Huberman, the LDHP writes, “decided that he needed to get involved with people in the area and joined sports and youth groups where he played tennis and table tennis, making a wide range of friends. He also went to evening classes, learnt French and advanced tailoring and other clothes- making skills. He kept in touch with ‘The Boys’, who visited Huberman and were welcomed by Sophie and Lou. LDHP continues: “He cycled and frequently went out with friends. He became a member of the youth club table tennis team who played in the local league and won many trophies... “At the Youth Group he met Shirley, who had recently moved from London. They got married on the 18th December 1955. Alfred and Shirley had three children Caroline, Maurice and Bryan.” ‘The Tailor of Hanningtons’ film is one of a bespoke collection of Jewish films that can be found on the Screen Archive South East website at http://screenarchive.brighton.ac.uk/ detail/12963/ and made possible by the initiative of its director, Frank Gray, in conjunction with Our Jewish Story, an oral and social history project of the Jewish Historical Society of England. The original was part of The Brighton and Hove Jewish Heritage Project created by Brighton Jewish Film Festival director Judy Ironside, Luke Holland and Dr Frank Gray, who later became director of Film Archive South East. “It’s a pleasure to make this available to the wider public at last”, said Gray. 10 Culture 11 Our final meeting for the 2018-19 session was very therefore often at risk of harsh treatment or worse. well attended and the audience were both informed She also explained how, both before and during and fascinated by author and writer Lyn Julius. She the second World War, the Mufti of Jerusalem was spoke about her work, drawing attention to the a close ally of the Nazis, spreading antisemitic plight of Jews who had lived in the Middle East and propaganda and encouraging Muslims to support North Africa for centuries but had left in distressing the Nazis, even to the extent of forming a Muslim circumstances, particularly after the founding Brigade to fight in Europe. She also pointed out that of the State of Israel. Referring to her recently far more Jews were forced out of Muslim countries published book, ‘Uprooted - How 3000 years of than left what was, until 1948, Palestine. Jewish Civilisation in the Arab World Vanished Overnight’ she highlighted some key points from her researches. This is a sad, but little-known story, which needs to be told and understood in many quarters, although it is comforting to know that Israel is at The daughter of refugees from Iraq, Lyn was able last recognising the culture and memory of those to combine her families’ experiences with a more of its citizens who fled from surrounding countries, general analysis of the relationship between the particularly in the 1960s. Muslim rulers of various countries and their Jewish populations. She demonstrated that co-existence between them was rarely as positive as is often made out, with Jews being treated as inferior and The branch programme will resume in the Autumn, with meetings on 29th October and 26th November. Watch out for details in SJN in September. issue 297 | june 2019 Jewish Historical Society – Sussex Branch by Michael Crook 10 Culture 11 for Max PhD and Students Hilde Kochmann in Modern Summer European-Jewish School History and Culture A Poem for Spring by Evelyn Lipman organised by the Centre for German-Jewish Studies, University of Sussex The Kurt Hellman Memorial Lecture Monday 8th July 2019 16:00 The dark days of December Cause many a heart to fail The cloudy skies, the frost and Conference Centre, Terrace Room Bramber House, University of Sussex, BN1 9QU wind Opening Remarks – Ernest Kochmann How does one face it all! ... Professor Shirli Gilbert on South African Jews, the Holocaust, and Apartheid South Africa’s system of Apartheid (‘apartness’ in Afrikaans) was formalized in 1948, just three years after the end of the Holocaust. For South African Jews, the recent genocide served as powerful currency in the debate about how to relate to local racist practices and ideas. In this talk, Shirli Gilbert will explore the diverse and sometimes unexpected ways in which the history of Jewish persecution, and especially the Holocaust, shaped Jews’ attitudes to racism both during apartheid But take a step into a room To see a magic sight Tall daffodils light up the gloom Their petals glowing bright (1948-1994) and after the transition to democracy. Shirli Gilbert is Professor of Modern History at the University of Southampton, UK. What sweetness flows into the She obtained her D.Phil. at the University of Oxford and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan. Her publications include Music in the Holocaust (2005), From Things Lost: Forgotten Letters and the Legacy of the Holocaust (2017), and, with Avril Alba, Holocaust Memory and Racism in the Postwar World (forthcoming). This is a public lecture and will be followed by a reception heart What hope and joy they bring When heaven sends the daffodils The heralds of the spring Please RSVP to cgjs@susssex.ac.uk on or before 24 June 2019. issue 297 | june 2019 12 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 13 BrightonReform Shavuot: Lessons in Anger Management by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo A few days ago, we had a domestic accident in our home. Outraged by the slowness of the Internet connection, one of my sons broke the screen of his computer. As a result, it was impossible for him to play Roblox, currently his favourite pastime. While we had to take the opportunity to teach him a couple of things about the frailty of household appliances, we also had to acknowledge that rage is very human. Indeed, the Torah says that even Moses, the most tolerant and understanding Jewish leader of all time, lost his temper a few times. One of these times was immediately after the Matan Torah, the Revelation of the Torah on Sinai, which is what we celebrate on Shavuot. The most famous outburst by Moses happened when he came down from Mount Sinai with the Tablets of the Law in his hands and saw the Israelites having a totally pagan party around the Golden Calf. Furious, for what he perceived as a betrayal of the Divine Covenant, Moses broke the two Tablets of the Law. Breaking the Tablets of the Law is a much more serious business than breaking the screen of a laptop computer which, (as I learnt recently), can be replaced with a more functioning one. When Moses broke the Tablets, the Jewish people, and the whole of humanity, found themselves without moral guidance, without connection with the Almighty and spiritually deprived, which is why the Torah informs us that they continued their wandering in the desert. That happens when you allow rage to guide your actions, or more correctly your reactions. You are lost, you succumb to passion and fury and you are not the master of yourself anymore, as your actions are driven by urge and not by rationality, empathy and constructive feelings. The Biblical story is known. Moses returned to the top of Mount Sinai and resumed his dialogue with the Almighty. God forgave him, and the people. Or, if you prefer, God gave Moses a second chance. Moses then returned to the people with a second set of Tablets. But what happened to the broken fragments of the first set of Tablets? The Talmud (Baba Batra 14b), tells us that they were placed in the Ark of the Covenant together with the second, whole and unbroken, set. This is really a powerful image. In the most holy of the places there are, close to the Tablets of the Law, broken fragments of another, more pristine, set of Tablets. The people of Israel carried around not only the current Covenant with the Almighty, but also the remnants of the previous. This image shows the depth of Torah’s understanding of human psychology. In all the relationships we have with other human beings, family or friends, we bring with ourselves the broken fragments, so to say, of previous relationships, of the projects, wishes, and dreams that have been shattered, sometimes by our own past rage and frustrations. If we focus too much on the broken fragments of our past that we carry around with ourselves, then we cannot live with our current life and relations properly. But if we pretend that the past does not influence us then our experience of life is not complete. My son got a new screen for his laptop and does not need the broken fragments of the previous screen to enjoy his video game. But our adult life is not a video game and we cannot avoid carrying around broken fragments. issue 297 | june 2019 Bulletin Board – June Mazel Tov We wish a big mazel tov to Zack Pittack & Daisy Teuton on the occasion of their wedding this month. Regular Activities Fridays Kuddle up Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 am June Events Sunday 2 No Cheder Community Tea, 2.30 pm Monday 3 Rosh Chodesh, 7.30 pm Saturday 8 Erev Shavuot Service, Followed by Leil Shavuot at Rabbi’s home, 6.30 pm Sunday 9 Shavuot Service, 10.30 am Children’s Shavuot Service, 10.30 Tuesday 11 Rabbi starts 2nd part of his Sabbatical Saturday 22 Shabbat Service including Aufruf of Zac Kenton & Roxana Jebreel and Zack Pittack & Daisy Teuton, 10.30 am followed by a special Kiddush Sunday 23 Wedding of Zack Pittack & Daisy Teuton, 2.30 pm The Bulletin Board is subject to change. 12 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 13 Remembering the Future by Rabbi Hershel Rader By definition, a Memorial is about the past. We remember events that have already taken place. If we look in the Torah we find an interesting phenomenum. In the Book of Genesis G-d remembers Noah, Abraham and Rachel. Noah, in order to instruct him to leave the ark. Abraham, to encourage him to rescue his nephew Lot. Rachel, who was childless, to give her a son. In the Book of Exodus we then find that G-d heard the cries of the Children of Israel and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with a view to saving them from their Egyptian bondage. Biblically, remembering is about the future. We must continue to remember because, although we cannot change the past; if we refuse to forget we can change the future. Tragically, we live in a time when attacks against our people still happen. I recall giving a talk to an American audience in which I underlined a difference between Jewish history in Europe and the USA. In Europe we have so many locations which are synonymous with Jewish tragedy and death; York in this country, Babi Yar in the Ukraine, Warsaw, Vienna, Auschwitz to name but a few. So many communities were wiped out by Crusaders, Cossacks and Nazis. In America, I said, such a concept does not exist. But this is no longer the case; for Jews the mention of the city Pittsburgh and the district of Poway in San Diego will now automatically conjure up images of synagogues being attacked. Something emigrants to the ‘Goldener Medina’ of America thought they had left behind in their European ‘Heim’. Shavuot Times & Activities 5779 - 2019 Shabbat 8th June • Mincha 8.40 pm followed by Shiur • Maariv 10.07 pm followed by communal meal (no admission fee, all welcome) in the Mark Luck Hall • Candle Lighting after 10.22 pm • Tikkun Leil Shavuot 11.30 pm The historian Paul Johnson, the catholic author of A History of the Jews, wrote “No people has ever insisted more firmly than the Jews that history has a purpose and humanity a destiny.... The Jews, therefore, stand right at the centre of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of purpose.” issue 297 | june 2019 Sunday 9th June – First Day Shavuot • Shacharit 9.15 am • Please be in Shul by 10.15 am for the reading of the Ten Commandments. The Service will be followed by Kiddush. • Annual Shavuot Lunch (see below) • Mincha & Maariv 7.30 pm • Candle Lighting 10.23 pm Remembering the Holocaust is about remembering who Monday 10th June – Second Day Shavuot we are and striving to build a future, whether individually, • Shacharit 9.15 am. Please be in Shul for Yizkor by 11.00 am communally or nationally, which reflects the unique • The Service will be followed by Kiddush. purpose of the Jewish People. We light candles, recite • Ladies’ Tea Time Tikkun – 4.30 pm in the Mark Luck Hall. All prayers and deliver readings with a view to the future, not ladies of the community are invited to attend and, if they want, merely as a tribute to the past. Our focus should be on creating that which our enemies sought to destroy. present a short Dvar Torah. Please notify the Shul office if you intend to participate. • Mincha followed by Shiur and Maariv 8.50 pm As both a young man and older Rabbi, I was both • Yom Tov terminates 10.24 pm impressed and inspired by Professor Velvl Greene, a Microbiologist in St Paul, Minnesota who, among other things, worked on the NASA space programme in the 1960’s and 70’s. He was a scientist from an extremely Annual Shavuot Lunch secular background who became devotedly religious. I once invited him to be the guest speaker at a large event in my community in London. After his talk he was A beautiful three course fish meal with wine. Vegetarian option available. asked ‘what influenced you to become so observant of First Day Shavuot Sunday 9 June. Judaism?’ He answered that it was a series of events but that the moment of true change was after a visit to £16 for adults & £5.00 for children. Auschwitz, when his wife turned to him and said ‘we are all that’s left’. It was then that they made the decision to eat only Kosher. We are all that’s left; the future – the Jewish future – of our people is in our hands. A.L. Rowse was a fellow of All Souls. He was a historian, poet, Shakespeare scholar and author of some 100 books. The following is the penultimate sentence of a book published shortly before he died: “If there is any honour in the world that I should like, it would be to be an honorary Jewish citizen.” We have just celebrated Pesach, the season of our freedom. G-d gave us that freedom and chose us as His nation, not to copy other peoples but to live a life, as transmitted to us in His Torah, which will cause others to desire to emulate us. If we do so, we will have created the greatest Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and Jewish martyrs throughout the millennia. This article was extracted from Rabbi Rader’s address at the Holocaust Memorial Service held on 1 May. All bookings must be in by Monday June 3rd. All welcome. 14 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 15 “God bless our gracious Queen......long live our noble Queen” by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer The subject of kingship is extremely relevant to the nation of Israel. We employ the Hebrew word “Melech” (King) whenever we recite any blessing and on the High Holy Days we declare God as ‘The King’. Throughout different periods of history when the nation of Yisrael had sovereignty over its own soil, it had several kings, of which Kings David and Solomon are perhaps the most famous. Every Shabbat, I stand with the Sefer Torah on the Bimah in the Synagogue and publicly offer a blessing to our current British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal family. How many of us have actually asked ourselves precisely what the monarchy represents? What our duty might be, or otherwise, to honour royalty? Whether or not Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth actually embodies something else more sublime than meets the eye? After all, at her coronation ceremony she was anointed with ‘Holy’ oil on ascending her throne within Westminster Abbey, rather similar, I dare say to the kings of Israel, assisted by the Prophets of their day (LeHavdil). It is, apparently, an event of deep spiritual significance. What does the Halacha have to say about the matter, if anything? Did you know that there is a special blessing to be recited on seeing a living monarch in the flesh, as is codified by the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 224:8), the great Halachic work of Chacham Yosef Karo? Most people with whom I have discussed this subject have offered a simple emotional sentiment of feeling a sense of appreciation and gratitude for the rights, privileges and protection of living peacefully in this country - England - with rolling green hills, a Christian society that they feel is not essentially and ultimately part of their personal identity. Others feel rather incensed by this notion and feel strongly that this type of expression undermines their very real natural birth as Britons, alongside full equality of status and citizenship. This is of course a rather recent development, historically speaking, as Jews on these Isles were only granted real emancipation in the Nineteenth Century after concerted struggles. Of course, to Americans across the Atlantic (as opposed to people from other English speaking countries within the Commonwealth) who share our same language (some would disagree), the very notion of having to feel gratitude or of paying homage to a monarch is all rather farcical if not entertaining, and does not sit well with the Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove very constitution upon which America was founded. This may of course well change, now that the latest arrival into the Royal family is also an American citizen! issue 297 | june 2019 It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot Then there is, of course, the very real concern for some, water; use of garden; television and telephone points. that since she represents the Church of England with the official title of “Governor of the Anglican world-wide Communion”, the Queen espouses a ‘new’ Covenant as expounded in the New Testament. This is clearly demonstrated with the cross on top of St. Edward’s Crown denoting Christian rule. They feel adamantly that this actually contradicts the very tenets for which we as Jews should stand on principle. They see this as an affront, a form of betrayal and spiritual coercion. I am aware that they will expressly exit the Synagogue at the time for recitation of the prayer to the Queen. We also live, I believe, in a current societal mood of irreverence for any sort of hierarchical order. Every stratum, position or appointment is supposedly ‘equal’ and every Tom, Dick and Harry feels that his/her opinion is of extreme importance, however ill-informed he/she might be. There is a tidal wave against any acceptance of that which might be construed as ‘Absolute’, whereby everything is acceptable to be challenged and overturned simply based on point of view and feeling, so long as one is not in contravention of that which is deemed to be legal. This obviously gives rise to challenging the very concept of a monarchy and indeed any Law which religion presents as God-given. Ironically, I often find, those claiming to be aggrieved by these Laws or oppressed by the Royals are often those harbouring the greatest aggression, bigotry and intolerance towards those of a different opinion, especially when those opinions do not suit their chosen lifestyle. In any case, it seems clear from our Sages that reverence is required towards the monarchy, Jewish or otherwise, for in so doing we acknowledge and ultimately realise the unparalleled and inestimable grandeur that we mere mortals should afford to the king of kings i.e God Himself. Precisely who Halachically is deemed to be considered a bonafide monarch and eligible to the Crown is passionately debated. So, very Jewish! In conclusion then, for those of us who have attended or who are attached to institutions of Royal patronage, one is obliged to ask oneself what meaning and significance this carries? Moreover, if we have benefited personally, then to what and to whom might we owe a deep sense of gratitude? At the very least, I am certain that we must all agree that this must be the uncontested Jewish way. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 14 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 15 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Finding Inspiration And A Call To Action At Shavuot by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah This year, Shavuot begins on Saturday evening, 8th June. After the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE and the festival ceased to be Yom Ha-Bikkurim, ‘The Day of First-Fruits’ when our ancestors went on pilgrimage with their offerings to Jerusalem, the Rabbinic Sages reconstructed the ‘Feast of Weeks’ into Z’man Matan Torateinu, ‘the Season of the Giving of our Torah’. Traditionally, Divine Revelation is regarded as a one-off event. And so, the Eternal spoke at Mount Sinai not only through the Torah, but through the ‘oral law’, the subsequent rabbinic codes: the Mishnah, edited c. 200 CE, and the two versions of the Talmud: the Palestinian, c. 400 CE, and the much more expansive, Babylonian, a century later. From a Progressive perspective by contrast, Revelation is understood to be continuous: The Eternal spoke to the generation in the wilderness and to the prophets, and to the rabbis. Indeed, the Eternal continues to speak throughout the generations, if only we would listen... For two weeks in April, the streets of cities all over Britain were taken over by crowds of peaceful protesters galvanised by the most urgent issue of our age today: Climate Change. issue 297 | june 2019 This ‘Extinction Rebellion’ which had been launched a few weeks earlier with school children abandoning their classrooms for the streets, found its most striking articulation in a young prophet from Sweden, called Greta Thunberg; a 16-year-old school student determined to confront the world with the bold facts of impending environmental disaster if the governments of the world fail to take action. Just before Pesach, a young Jewish contingent emerged: ‘Extinction Rebellion Jews’ – @XRJews – urging us to take inspiration from the Exodus story: “At your Seder place a red chilli pepper on the plate to remind us of the burning earth. As we tell the Pesach story and consider our current liberation struggles, let us open ourselves to the signs of the climate catastrophe, and find inspiration to take action.” Pesach is a time to be inspired to take action – and so, too, Shavuot. At BHPS, we shall be holding a Tikkun Leil Shavuot, an all-night study marathon on the theme of Climate Change and committing ourselves to transforming the shul into an ‘Eco-Synagogue’ – https://ecosynagogue.org/. All are Welcome. Chag Samei’ach! Events@BHPS Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and a talk and discussion. June 14 “Nuclear Power: Past, Present & Future?” Kevin Odell Erev Shavuot Saturday 8 June, 8.00 pm, Erev Shavuot Service followed at 9.00pm by Tikkun Leyl Shavuot. All night study session on the theme of Climate Change - (with cheesecake and refreshments) finishing with a 5.00 am Shacharit service at the beach. Brighton Youth Orchestra String Ensemble The Youth Orchestra will perform at BHPS at 7.30 pm on Sunday 30 June. The programme includes Bach’s Concerto for 3 Violins, Pastoral Suite by Avril Coleridge Taylor, 5 Greek Dances by Nikos Skalkottas. Admission: Adults £15. Children Under 16 years £10. See the synagogue website to book through Eventbrite or ring the office. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli For those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. Classes held on Shabbat 2.15 - 3.45pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. UNIT 5: FROM LIFE TO DEATH 1 June: Shavuot 8 June: IN PLACE OF CLASSES: ALL-NIGHT SHAVUOT STUDY MARATHON 15 June: Divorce 22 June: Death & Mourning 29 June: Choosing Judaism & Mixed Faith Partnerships and Families Access To Classical Hebrew With Rabbi Elli, Shabbat afternoons, 1.00 to 2.00 pm Open to students of all levels. To join, please contact the synagogue. Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11.00 am – 4.00 pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com 16 What’s on: June 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 16 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Mondays Fri 31 May 8.45 pm Sat 1 June 10.13 pm Fri 7 8.52 pm Sat 8 10.22 pm Fri 14 8.57 pm Sat 15 10.27 pm Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Fri 21 9.00 pm Sat 22 10.30 pm Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group Fri 28 9.00 pm Sat 29 10.29 pm based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 SPECIAL DATES 669181 Sat 1 Erev Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) Tuesdays Sun 2 Jerusalem Day Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every Sat 8 Erev Shavuot Sun 9 1st day Shavuot Mon 10 2nd day Shavuot - Yizkor other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from EVENTS IN JUNE 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Sunday 2 Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: Helping Hands Community Tea at AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30 - 4.30 pm 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 Friday 7 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the July 2019 issue or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Sunday 9 June LAST DAY - Exhibition ‘One by One Sixty’ at by Israeli music photographer Gili Dailes at Mange Tout, 81 Trafalgar Street, Brighton Thursday 20 Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Copthorne Golf Club. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary, Ashley Woolfe, at: Thursdays ashley@sportscastnet.com Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Ending Saturday 21 September Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Worthing Museum & Art Gallery Chapel Road, Worthing, internationally known artist Robert Koenig exhibition ‘Memorial Structures’ Reliefs JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH and sculptural carvings remember war and concentration camp victims Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Sunday 30 Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - Top Hat Productions and The Lunch & Social Club present ‘Our Favourite 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Things’ cabaret and Sunday night bagel supper, 6.30 pm at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. Tickets £15 from Laura 01273 722173 (tables of Fridays 10) Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL Please note that our next issue will be July 2019. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 7th June WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, 2019. BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturdays IMPORTANT INFORMATION Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 issue 297 | june 2019 -
Issue 296
May 2019
1 may 2019 • NISaN – IyyaR 5779 • ISSUE 296 SUSSEX SUSSEX JEwISh JEwISh NEwS NEwS what’S INSIdE.... JEwISh aRtS FEStIVaL | KaZaKhStaN | JEwISh wOmEN FRIENdS IN SUSSEX | ONE By ONE SIXty | what’S ON | aNd mORE Whats 2 2019 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival at Ralli Hall Community Centre 3 The 2019 Sussex Jewish Arts Festival is the first of a can get involved and display their work. Hopefully series of annual events celebrating Sussex Jewish art also this event will encourage other talented people to and design, photography, pottery, sculpture, fashion, come out of their homes, workshops and studios to get Judaica, music, crafts and more. It will be held on involved in local Jewish arts activities and groups, such Sunday July 28th from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. as theatre and drama, song and dance, digital art and Brighton has long been a recognised city and centre of the great British arts. The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival aims to showcase the artistic creativity that thrives film making. It’s a great way to exchange techniques, express views with like-minded people and make new friends. within the Jewish community across Brighton, Sussex Maxine Gordon, Ralli Hall Centre Manager said, “The and South East. centre is absolutely buzzing with excitement with all Roger Abrahams, Ralli Hall Community Centre Honorary Chairman said, “When I visit the Jewish Art Society which is run by Rochelle Oberman here at Ralli Hall, I am simply amazed just how much artistic talent and creativity are prevalent in our community. This Ralli Hall event can be a showcase of this talent with a one-day event where people can visit, network and celebrate the arts and crafts within the local the different community activities and events that take place in the building. Recently we held a barn dance which was a total success and so much fun that we have been asked to run another one this year. The Arts Festival will become a prominent annual event in the Sussex Jewish calendar and we are in discussions with local groups regarding more exciting planned events and activities at Ralli Hall”. community”. For more information regarding the 2019 Sussex Jewish The Sussex Jewish Arts Festival is a one-day free entry event complemented by refreshments and music. Anyone involved in any aspect of Jewish arts and crafts Arts Festival please contact Maxine Gordon on 01273 202254, email rallihallcentre@gmail.com or visit www. rallihallcommunitycentre.com. Cover: A view of Spring by Brian Megitt EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of issue 296 | may 2019 COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER IMAGE Brian Megitt the Jewish community across the region. PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 6 MAY 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 A VIEW OF SPRING by Brian Megitt 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT ON... Jewish Arts Festival 9 ZEH RAK DA’ATI 7 Godfrey Gould’s childhood sojourn to Keswick 10 A VISIT TO ASTANA Steve Field travels to Kazakhstan 11 JEWISH WOMEN FRIENDS IN SUSSEX A thank you to Maxine Toff 12 SUSSEX WEIDENFELD INSTITUTE The launch of a new Institute of Jewish Studies 13 CHIUNE SUGIHARA Gerald Oberman on a Japanese Vice Counsel who saved Jews during the Holocaust 13 GATWICK FLIGHTS TO ISRAEL Brian Megitt asks questions of easyJet REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 14 CULTURE The Chutzpah Choir and The One by One Sixty exhibition 20 WHAT’S ON – MAY Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 16 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 17 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 18 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 19 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: £40 per Flyer Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 296 | may 2019 MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Roger Abrahams (75), Cliona Berman, Michael Harris (70), Edwina Levy, Zoe Morrison, Lily Ratner, Sharon Rose, Laura Sharpe (80) in April, Vera Silver, Gweni Sorokin (75), Margaret Zuisman and all who have special birthdays this month. Weddings Mazel tov to: • Hilary Barnett on her recent marriage to David Green • Liora Goldberg and Daniel Seligman on their marriage Wedding of Liora Goldberg and Daniel Seligman on 5 April 2019 issue 296 | may 2019 Special Anniversaries Mazel tov to Jennifer & Philip Berman and to Melanie & Samuel Firsht on their special anniversaries this month. Get Well We wish a refuah sheleimah to David Forman and to all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time. Deaths We wish Long Life to Penina Efune and all the family on the death of her father Peter (Pinchos Meier) Kalms z’l Stonesettings • The memorial stone in loving memory of Irvyn Isaacs z’l will be consecrated on Sunday 19 May at 2.30 pm at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton • The memorial stone in loving memory of Linda Boyask z’l will be consecrated on Sunday 26 May at 2.30 pm at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton Time for Tea by Jason Lever 01273 747722 At the heart of the Helping Hands’ yearly calendar are our ever-popular afternoon teas at the AJEX Centre in Hove. They are a wonderful opportunity to meet other people on a Sunday afternoon. The Helping Hands teas are open to everyone in the community. You do not have to be a member of any shul, or receiving regular support by Helping Hands, to come along. Neither do you have to be of a certain age! According to Dr George Sigmond of the Royal Medico- Botanical Society, “The social tea-table is like the fireside of our country, a national delight; and, if it be the scene of domestic converse and agreeable relaxation, it should likewise bid us remember that every thing connected with the growth and preparation of this favorite herb should awaken a higher feeling - that of admiration, love, and gratitude to Him “who saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good”.” (Tea: Its Effects, Medicinal and Moral, 1839). Dr Sigmond goes as far as to interpret the cultivation of Assam tea as a divine justification of the English habit of tea-drinking. I wouldn’t want to over-egg (sandwich!) the case to be made for afternoon tea, but who am I to dispute this effusive praise of the ritual in place already at the onset of Victorian society, especially with his citation of Bereshit 1, verse 31. Assam is my favourite too. So, if you’ve never been, please give a Helping Hands tea a try along with our many regulars. What should you expect to experience? (1) Freshly made sandwiches (the best in Brighton & Hove!) (2) As much tea (or coffee) as you can drink (3) Catch up and chat with old friends across the community – or make new ones (4) Great entertainment – often musical or occasionally a quiz (5) An informal atmosphere and inclusive for all. Our next tea is on 2 June at 2.30 pm at the AJEX Hall in Eaton Road. Please contact us, either by email at helpinghands4sussex@gmail.com or ringing 01273 747722, in advance to say you would like to come, especially if you need transport which can be provided through our volunteer drivers or on our Helping Hands bus. Our next tea dates will be held on 4 August, 6 October and 1 December. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. The Worthing & District Jewish Community (WDJC) has severed all connection with Sussex Jewish Outreach – with immediate effect. Erratum The article on Page 14 of the April issue of SJN should refer to Baron da Goldsmid e da Palmeira. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer We hope everyone had a good Pesach and you are full of the Evening & Bagel Supper. This will be such an upbeat evening joys of Spring. with lots of amazing songs: so please contact Laura on 01273 Now the weather is improving, why not come and join us 722173 as tickets are going very fast. at the Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club for a good social Our new Tuesday exercise classes with DVDs are proving atmosphere and a delicious hot three course kosher lunch most popular and enjoyable. They do help with posture and (unsupervised). We’d love to see you here. movement; why not come and join us? In March we had a super joint Purim party with Rabbi Efune, We are happy to welcome Irit Abrahams as a volunteer on a who cooked us a wonderful meal. We were entertained by Tuesday. some great musicians from London and after lunch were joined by the children from the Torah nursery who were such a delight and who also entertained us. Our lovely and dedicated volunteer Laura Sharpe, who has been with the Lunch and Social Club for many, many years, had a special Birthday in April and we would like to wish Our forthcoming events are our three nights away in her A Happy and Healthy Birthday and look forward to her Eastbourne, which is always a lot of fun and on Thursday 30 volunteering for many more years. Thank you, Laura for all May, Doris Levinson is giving us a talk, after lunch, on her your hard work, which is much appreciated. interesting life. One not to miss. Everyone has enjoyed our food during the winter months but We are looking forward to 30 June 2019, when Top Hats and we plan to make some changes for the Spring Menus - watch the Lunch Club are hosting an “Our Favourite Things” Cabaret this space. Jewish Historical Society of England Sussex Branch by Godfrey R Gould Few of us, I suspect, have any idea about a Jewish community in Hastings and St Leonards. But the select few who attended a most interesting lecture by Dr Michael Jolles at the Jewish Historical Society on Tuesday 26 March are now enlightened. Michael has spent several years working from original sources in various locations to build up a picture of this local community. From the mid nineteenth century a steady stream of residents and visitors have graced the terraces especially of fashionable St Leonards. Many were catered for by a number of Jewish Boarding Houses, especially ‘Strathclyde’, where Chief Rabbi Marcus Adler was wont to stay and indeed celebrated his 70th birthday there. There was also a Jewish School, Beaufort House, and many tradesmen and professionals. Michael has conducted a most valuable piece of original research, which is continuing. Earlier in his researches he contributed his progress thus far in the pages of this Journal. His researches can also be found on line. Our 2019/20 session will commence on Tuesday 29 October, when our speaker will be Dr Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti, issue 296 | may 2019 Lecturer in Italian History, University College, London on “Patriots and Jews - Navigating the challenge of equality and integration in Liberal Italy” (postponed from earlier this year). Full information of the whole programme will be posted at the usual locations and by email/post. However, it is possible that during the summer we might be able to organise a special private visit to the British Library to see some of its amazing collection of Judaica. Details will be posted when available. In the meantime, full information of our activities can be obtained from the Chairman, Michael Crook, on 01273 776539 or by email at amcrook321@gmail. com The Committee look forward to seeing members, regulars and hopefully some new faces at our meetings at Ralli Hall, usually the last Tuesday in the month (unless there has to be a move because of a clash generally with a Yom-tov) and commencing at 7.45pm. Meetings are free to members and students, for others a small charge of £5 is made to include light refreshments after the lecture, questions and discussion. Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons The first meeting of our golfing season on 17 April was at Seaford Golf Club, high on the Sussex Downs. Laurence Alexander, our new Captain, “drove-in” and the meeting was very well attended and enjoyed by all. It was a great day with an excellent dinner in the evening. We all wish Laurence a wonderful year as Captain. May will be a busy month for us with our match against Hartsbourne, the prestigious London golf and country club and our next meeting will be at Cuddington Golf Club in Surrey, on 16 May, where we expect another large attendance, particularly from our members who now reside in London. This picturesque course is located on the North Downs with panoramic views of the London skyline. As usual, there will be trophies for the high and low handicap winners presented at the formal dinner after the golf. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com 6 Sussex and the City 7 Ralli Hall by Maxine Gordon We’ve recently enjoyed hosting and organising some fabulous community events at the centre and are delighted that Ralli Hall has been hired for a number of private simchas during the year. If you actually came to any of these functions, we hope you enjoyed the event and please don’t be shy in telling others how great they were. On 27 January we were also able to come to the rescue of the Torah Academy at the 11th hour - they had sold so many tickets for their fundraising Quiz night that they needed our Main Hall to fit everyone in. We were pleased we could help and gave our facilities to Rabbi and Penina Efune. The winning team members were delighted to celebrate their intellectual prowess. Our Barn Dance was a rip-roaring success too. Over 100 people of all ages filled the Main Hall, giggled and danced all afternoon to the toe-tapping beat of our live band, ate good, wholesome food and had great fun. So much so, we’ve already been asked when the next one is taking place! Just to top that weekend, a 60th wedding anniversary took place on the Sunday, and as you can see, our Main Hall looked classic and elegant. A wonderful Simcha was celebrated by a local family and friends on a recent Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Ralli Hall was completely transformed and looked incredible. Local With creativity and organisational skills – Ralli Hall can make any event happen. caterers supplied an outstanding fully supervised Kosher meal on both days, and many compliments on the venue and facilities have been flowing in ever since. issue 296 | may 2019 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com 6 Sussex and the City 7 Hyman Fine House Wins Platinum Award by Natasha Carson and Mark Pady Jewish Care’s Hyman Fine House in Brighton is a winner! It The Oxo postcard in the picture came from a visit to a was awarded full marks and presented with a Platinum award museum in Eastbourne, where one of our residents had in recognition of its dedication to provide the best possible donated her late husband’s war mementoes. He was a care for all its residents right up until the end of their lives. pioneer in the development of radar, and we were able to see This is the second time Hyman Fine House was awarded the all his achievements on display – very moving. Quality Hallmark Award from the National Gold Standards It’s so wonderfully old fashioned to get a postcard through Framework (GSF) Centre, the UK’s largest provider of training the door – something the younger generation are missing out in end of life care but this was the home’s first Platinum on. Having a look at the picture – checking the stamp and award. Staff from the home were presented with the award by the postmark – trying to figure out who it’s from and putting it Vic Rayner, Executive Director of National Care Forum, at a up on our display board for all to see. To know that someone ceremony in London on 5 April. far away is thinking of us and has taken the time to “wish we Natasha Carson, the Manager at Hyman Fine House, were there” is special indeed. commented; So next time you are on holiday, be it in Israel or the Isle of “We were delighted to have been presented with this award that recognises the dedication and commitment of the whole staff team. We work hard to ensure our residents have Wight – send us a postcard. It will be great to hear from you and put a smile on our faces. Our address is Hyman Fine House, 20 Burlington Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 1AU. meaningful lives and that they are supported as individuals. Last but not Whilst our home is a place where we encourage people to live least we have all life to the full, we also know that none of us will live forever been enjoying and addressing, planning for and supporting people at the the company of end of their life is an important and difficult aspect of our some baby chicks work. It is always great to be presented with an award and it’s who were staying one I proudly collected on behalf of the whole team at Hyman with us as they Fine”. hatched. Resident Talking of encouraging people, we are getting ready for our annual Brighton Fringe event, which will be on the 30 of May 2019 at the Yellow Wave. We hope that you will be able to come along and support us on the day. The more the merrier! The Post Card Challenge.... When we go out and about on our jolly outings in the char- à-banc, one of the things we try to do is collect a small memento of the trip – usually a postcard. Gwen Fletcher is shown holding one. They have brought great joy to us all! If you would like to learn more about volunteering in the home, please contact Natasha or Mark on 01273 688226. Did you know - Volunteering doesn’t have to be every week – we have some lovely volunteers who come only on High Holy days and others just in the school holidays. There’s a role for everyone! issue 296 | may 2019 8 Sussex and the City 9 Re-development plans approved by Yael Breuer The Bloom Foundation expressed their delight, after a to enjoy. At the heart of our design is the outdoor space 7 to 5 vote by Brighton & Hove City Council in favour – the buildings are designed around a central avenue of of their proposed re-development of the current West trees and we are creating a peaceful haven with a central Hove synagogue in New Church Rd. The redevelopment courtyard and allotment space. This will be a high quality, will incorporate housing, a new synagogue and cross- sustainable development built for the long term. communal facilities such as a kosher café, a functions hall and an employment support resource, as well as housing, with the aim of attracting young families to the city. In their statement, the Foundation expressed their “delight that this important regeneration project has been given the go- ahead by Brighton & Hove City Council”. We would like to thank our project team, all of whom have worked tirelessly and with huge passion and creativity to ensure this vision is at the heart of everything we are doing. We would also like to thank Work Avenue, The Sussex Representative Council, JW3, PJ Library and in particular The Office of the Chief Rabbi, for all the support The vote took place after months of uncertainty amid they have already shown us. The Jewish community, more than 700 objections to the development, mostly from nationally, has so much to offer local communities and we local residents and councillors expressing concerns about have been fortunate to find so many willing and creative environmental issues, parking, the size of the development partners as we seek to bring our vision to life. and visibility issues. An ambitious project of this nature will generate Bloom Foundation head and Brighton & Hove Albion FC opposition. We have a responsibility now to continue chair Tony Bloom, who grew up in the city and whose to communicate with our neighbours to try to allay any parents live locally, addressed the meeting, saying, “The concerns, and to show that we are creating something site was on the verge of being sold to a commercial that they too will value in the future. developer, threatening the survival of the Jewish community. The Bloom Foundation has stepped in with an alternative to build facilities for all the local community”. He added, “We will reverse the vicious cycle of falling membership and the loss of young Jewish families in the city”. Whilst the focus inevitably at the start is on the facilities, the ultimate success of this project will be built on creating a real sense of community. We have a strong commercial relationship with our next-door neighbour St Christopher’s School, for whom we will be providing additional classroom space and other facilities. We are soon to embark on constructing the facility at New Church Road and it will be absolutely phenomenal. We will work equally hard to continue to help draw in people and institutions from across the community. There is a lot of work to do and it is incredibly exciting.” David Seidel, chairman of Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, wrote to the community, “Thank you to all the members of our congregation, to the wider Jewish Community... and beyond the Jewish community who came to Hove Town Hall to support our application... Now the hard work begins to make the new buildings a reality... If anyone in the congregation believes they can help, please let me know.” Michael Crook, member of the development’s Strategy Committee, added, “The Jewish community of Brighton & After the result was announced, Bloom Foundation trustee Marc Sugarman said, “We are delighted that the Council has approved this important regeneration project. Too many provincial Jewish communities in the UK have fallen below a critical mass and faded away. We now have an opportunity to build something special to revitalise Jewish Hove has seen many changes in its existence of over 200 years, and my family has been part of this process for over 125 years. With the granting of planning permission for the redevelopment of the New Church Road site, we enter a new phase, which we hope will be successful in securing the future of the community for many more generations”. life in Brighton & Hove and, at the same time, enrich the Another proposed development of communal revival entire local community. The Foundation’s vision is to ‘help locally, is a Jewish Faith Primary school, and the chairman communities thrive’, and this project embodies that. Our of the committee, David Shinegold, commented, “We are Chairman, Tony Bloom, in his address to Councillors, delighted to learn that plans for the New Church Road highlighted our focus on education, community and project in Hove have now received planning permission. social mobility as we try to make this vision a reality. The We share the developer’s vision and ambition to facilities we are constructing support these values. We regenerate the UK’s fifth largest Jewish community. This will construct a beautiful, uplifting Shul, much-needed week’s news further inspires us in our bid to attract Jewish new housing, including five affordable units, and a range families to one of the most appealing locations on the of educational, workspace and social amenities for all South Coast”. issue 296 | may 2019 8 Features 9 Zeh Rak Da’ati - 7: A Jewish Childhood Sojourn in Keswick - 1940 by Godfrey Gould I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1931 in a Jewish family and lived for my infancy in Sunderland, Co. Durham. At the outbreak of War in 1939 I was 8 and, together with other Jewish families, my mother, sister and I decamped to Haltwhistle, a small market town between Hexham and Carlisle. My mother and sister lodged with others in a house or houses and I was placed with a local family nearby for our short stay - I was teased by other boys in the house and hated it. As we were not bombed, invaded or otherwise disturbed, everybody went back to their homes after a week. My only memory was of being stung in the hand by a bee, but a few years ago I was able to go back instinctively to the very house in which I had stayed some 60 years before! Bombing started in 1940. Londoners think that their city was unique in this respect but, of course, it was not so. Following the invasion of Norway, the raids over North East England grew and remained worse and at some stage we were evacuated to Keswick. My mother, sister and I lodged in a small semi/terrace house on the north side of the road towards Bassenthwaite. Many of the other north-east Jews took over a hotel just on the south side of the town on the short road which leads down to the lake (not along the side of the lake). We must have stayed there about six months from spring to autumn of that year and I went to the local school further to the west. I believe kosher food was delivered to the Hotel from Newcastle (?) each week and the many ladies who lived there did the cooking, probably on a communal basis. You must realise that all this comes from the memory of one who was then only nine. The sun always shone; it never rained - such is the memory of one who did not then know that Keswick is just about the wettest town in England! It was an idyllic time of my life. A pervading smell was that of burnt wood, very sweet, from the shavings of the Keswick Pencil Co. I had a bicycle and explored the nearby countryside managing to cycle a fair issue 296 | may 2019 way up Skiddaw, well, I thought so. Although boating on the lake did not feature, as the motor launches were stored on the far side of the little bay for the duration, but we boys would spend weekends playing on them, causing no damage and with no interference from adults. There may have been services on Shabbat, but there seemed to be few Jewish men there, just women and children. On Saturday mornings we would go to a children’s film show at a cinema/ hall by the river on the road leading to the Railway Station - now I would have spent my time at the station (unfortunately closed due to the stupidity of Dr Beeching - what a wonderful preserved line it would be). Further up was the Keswick Hotel. I believe Roedean School was evacuated there, something which impressed my mother; to me it meant nothing. I remember little of school. I had my first experience of school meals - I suppose with rationing and money tight it was a good way of feeding me, but it put me off bread and butter pudding for decades until I tasted that sold by M&S. I had also collected a lot of Lake District picture postcards which I lent to a teacher, and who managed to lose them. I hope she.......! I vaguely remember a Seder [Passover celebration] in the ballroom at the hotel and services which must have been on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur [Jewish New Year and Jewish Day of Atonement]. I’m pretty certain that a Rabbi and Chazan [Cantor] came from Newcastle or Sunderland to conduct these services. However, we kids took little interest in these, when just adjacent was Derwentwater and all its attractions. After we returned to the North-East in the autumn of 1940, initially to live with my grandmother in Newcastle and later in Whitley Bay, we continued to visit the Lake District, or nearby. A number of Jewish families had been evacuated to Appleby and Penrith. About 1943 we started to holiday in Appleby and later in Penrith. The latter introduced me to Ullswater, a lake I know better than ever I did Derwentwater. But that is for another time, perhaps? This was originally written in 2011 for Marcus Roberts, compiler of Jtrails, at his request, for information for his Trail on the Jewish Lake District. Casually perusing that Trail online recently I discovered that he had used my reminiscence and without my knowledge. So, I thought that my readers might be interested in some of what I got up to nearly 80 years ago. As I thought, as it happens correctly, that this might be read by a non-Jewish audience, I have explained some of the Jewish terms. The rest of the Trail is an original study of German Jewish mining engineers working in the Lake District in the sixteenth century. Also, and rather surprisingly, Marcus has nothing on the 732 ‘Boys’ who were rescued from the Camps and who were rehabilitated near Windermere after the War. Several of them subsequently lived locally, and their families are still amongst us. (For more see Martin Gilbert “The Boys - Triumph over Adversity” Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996.) Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 10 Features 11 A Visit to Astana by Steve Field As part of my work for Cambridge International Examinations I went to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to work for five days with a team of their physics teachers setting three exam papers. Travelling with my chemistry and biology equivalents we landed in Astana at 5.00 am on Thursday 14 March and travelled home a week later. After booking into our hotel, we snatched a few hours sleep, met for breakfast and then, having been given a rest day, we walked for a few hours taking in the sights of this incredible place. Astana has been the capital city only since 1997, having been chosen by the President, Nursultan Nazarbeyev. Therefore, everything is new and the whole place looks like a competition between the world’s foremost architects. We saw stunning buildings and the frozen-over river as we marvelled at the sights, in temperatures which never rose above zero all week. The people were delightful, comprising many different ethnic groups, thanks to Stalin sending them into exile in this huge, underpopulated, land-locked country which, for the most part, consists of flat infertile grassland. My interpreter had (the former capital). The chap sitting next to me on the other side ordered me an Uber when it was all over and I arrived safely back at my hotel with lots of interesting pictures of people in fancy dress to show my colleagues. worked for a short time in Cambridge and had also visited the USA where she had worked in a Jewish kids’ camp. Since it came up in conversation I asked about Jewish life in Astana. She said that the Jews are very well regarded because they are smart - which you don’t hear very often. Felix making a short speech. Rabbi in striped shirt and big beard Signpost for the shul I visited the synagogue, the largest in Central Asia, which was built in 2005 and met the rabbi because I was going to be around for Purim. Rabbi Shmuel Karnaukh was born in Georgia and studied in Israel but did not speak English, so I had to ask him at what time festivities would commence in Ivrit (Yael will be so proud of me). Two days later I got the bus and duly turned up at the shul where, after the Megillah reading, there was a meal. I was approached by a chap called Felix who spoke English and was clearly an official of the synagogue because he wore a suit and sat in ‘the box’. I sat next to him at the meal. The rabbi gave a very funny speech. Everyone was in stitches apart from me because it was all in Russian. Felix poured me a drink and said that it was virtually 100% alcohol. He stood up, made a quick speech, downed his drink in one and disappeared saying that he had a plane to catch to Almaty Two events of great historical importance happened while I was in the country. First of all, Kazakhstan beat Scotland in a European Cup qualifier and, secondly, the President stepped down after 30 years in office. The Kazakhstan team stayed at the hotel next day and in our hotel we had several Scottish supporters. I admire anyone who is prepared to go out in a kilt in temperatures of minus 15. We were told not to mention politics and certainly not Borat. However, the next day, after the President resigned, my interpreter said that he had been in office during her entire lifetime. I told her to revisit England where there could be a new prime minister by teatime. Apparently the Brexit joke has reached these distant parts. There are six synagogues in the country, all delightfully displayed on the calendar that Rabbi Karnaukh gave me. According to Felix, Almaty is the largest community and is also well worth a visit. issue 296 | may 2019 10 Features 11 Jewish Women Friends: our thanks to Maxine Toff by Jackie Fuller with help from Prue Baker and Chana Moshenska Way back in the late 1990s, a network of Jewish women met under the banner of ‘The Half-Empty Bookcase’. Student rabbis at Leo Baeck College came up with the group’s unusual name: reflecting that without more books by and about Jewish women our bookcases are half empty. The first meetings were part social and part study group. Word spread and new members joined: women living locally with Jewish backgrounds who were not necessarily religious or members of a synagogue, and who at that time had no way of connecting with their Jewish heritage. There seemed to be an unfulfilled need in Sussex. Even without a religious connection, these women shared many experiences from their childhoods: Jewish food, Jewish youth clubs or just a general interest in Jewish culture. Following the Half Empty Bookcase, the wonderful Maxine Toff, together with some like- minded friends, conceived the idea of continuing the group as Jewish Women Friends in Sussex (JWFiS). Over the years we’ve enjoyed a wide range of activities. A book group flourishes, reading a varied selection of books mainly with a Jewish theme. The books often lead to discussions about aspects of members’ own lives, both humorous and serious. In the Life History group, we document our memories of the past – anything from clothes to teachers, childhood holidays to grandparents. Perhaps these memories will one day be read by our own grandchildren and later generations. There is a play-reading group, meeting every few months for a shared meal and the reading of an interesting play. Over the years there have also been a walking group; a poetry group; a writing group for members who were writing stories, autobiography, travel pieces and more; and even a group exploring end of life issues and living wills. Theatre goers meet to see plays together in Brighton, Chichester or London. The most recent addition is a issue 296 | may 2019 group getting together to enjoy DVDs of old and much-loved movies that we remember fondly from years ago. Sometimes there have been cinema visits, outings to interesting places, and shared meals for no particular reason except to do things together, chat, get to know each other and have a good time. There have also been meals in restaurants or picnics. Maxine produced a newsletter listing the events and groups, all coordinated of course by Maxine herself. Some members were happy just to be on the email list as a way of keeping in touch, others met up weekly. Maxine’s regular emails have enabled members to publicise events they were involved in as part of the wider community that they thought might be of interest to JWFiS members. One-off events have included interesting speakers and discussion sessions on a wide range of subjects, prompted by shared interests and usually combined with a shared meal. In fact, food has always featured quite highly in JWFiS activities. We’re constantly amazed at how a shared meal, with no pre- planning, produces such a wide variety of delicious dishes with rarely any duplication. We mark Passover with a Women’s Seder, usually on the third night: this is the only religious festival we celebrate as a group. We use a Haggadah compiled by some of our members which we have updated over time. Our first Women’s Seder was in 2004 in the University of Sussex Meeting House. For many years we celebrated there but now Maxine hosts Seder in her home. So why are we writing an article about all this? Well, up to now Maxine has been the originator and lynchpin around whom all the JWFiS activities have been organised, many of them by her personally. We are eternally grateful to her for her vision, enthusiasm, organising ability and commitment in starting and nurturing JWFiS. However, the time has come to spread the load and organise things a bit differently. JWFiS continues but now seems a good time to recognise Maxine’s generosity of spirit and considerable achievement in starting and developing JWFiS over such a long period. Some of us got together for a shared tea to say thank you to Maxine and were able to express our heartfelt thanks to her for everything she has done over the years (see photo). As one member put it: “JWFiS has involved Maxine over the years in more hours than she can remember. As a result, more activities have been organised and enjoyed than we can name, more friends have been made than we can count, resulting in more fun, laughter and learning than we can measure.” Many of us wouldn’t even know each other if it weren’t for her, so thank you so much, Maxine, and here’s to the continued future of Jewish Women Friends in Sussex. Note: We welcome new members. For further information email: jwfriendsinsussex@gmail.com... and we’ll look forward to meeting you. 12 Features 13 The Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies by Yael Breuer The University of Sussex is launching a new Institute of Jewish Studies, which will be established as a Research Centre. It will aim to draw together leading international scholars from a variety of disciplines and promote research of the Jewish experience in a broader context to make it relevant to larger issues of our day. The Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies, has been endorsed by the family of the late Lord Weidenfeld, who was a keen supporter of the University of Sussex, and has received funds from the German and Austrian governments to aid its establishment. To celebrate its launch, an event with a panel discussion on the subject of The Rise of Antisemitism in Our Time took place at the residence of the German Ambassador, Peter Wittig. Panellists included author Howard Jacobson, Senior Rabbi and Member of the House of Lords Baroness Neuberger DBE, Journalist, Author and Consultant Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex Hella Pick CBE, and United Kingdom Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues and Co-Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Trust Advisory Board The Rt Hon the Lord Pickles PC. The panel discussion was Chaired by Thomas Harding, bestselling author of “Hans and Rudolf” and “The House by the Lake” and the guest of honour was The Lady Weidenfeld. The German Ambassador and his wife greeted the guests. He said, “I am delighted that the German Government is able to support the Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies and hope that we can lay the lasting foundations for a leading centre for Jewish and German-Jewish studies. It is a poignant and very saddening sign of our times that we launch the Institute amid a discussion on the rise of antisemitism. This rise is a deeply troubling development, coming just over 80 years after the events of ‘Kristallnacht’ in Germany, when Nazi paramilitary troops and civilians unleashed a pogrom against Jewish citizens, unchecked and unchallenged by most of civil society. Institutions such as the Weidenfeld Institute preserving Lord Weidenfeld’s legacy and his outstanding commitment to the fight against extremism are of the utmost importance amidst the challenges our world faces today. Germany’s contribution to this institute is further testimony to my country’s commitment to do our best to protect the values of our liberal societies.” issue 296 | may 2019 Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, who also spoke at the event, said, “The teaching of German and Austrian history is largely neglected in the UK and our work focusing on Jewish people in German-speaking lands has always sought to address this. We now see an opportunity, with the kind support the German Government is providing, to expand this programme and create a new and distinctive interdisciplinary research centre that will place the Jewish experience in a broader context and make it relevant to larger issues of our day. For example, issues such as antisemitism will be investigated from historical, cultural, and socio-political standpoints to provide insights into the wider context of humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in modern society.” This was not the first initiative at the University of Sussex with which Lord Weidenfeld’s name has been associated. In 2010, Lord Weidenfeld engaged in a drive to establish Chairs in Modern Israel Studies at leading UK universities and the University of Sussex, with its commitment to inclusive interdisciplinary studies and with its widely recognised German-Jewish Studies Centre, was an obvious choice to host such a Professorial Chair. Lord Weidenfeld successfully brought together support from leading philanthropists to enable the Yossi Harel Chair in Modern Israel Studies to be inaugurated in 2013. The university’s Centre for German Jewish Studies, which was established in 1994 and which has developed into a major institution for the study of the history, culture and thought of Jews in Central Europe and for the training of a new generation of teachers and researchers in this field, is likely to incorporate the new Institute in its research remit. The Centre’s director, Dr Gideon Reuveni, said: “The vision of the Sussex Weidenfeld Institute is to become a leading intellectual hub for the interdisciplinary study and public discussion of the Jewish experience and how it relates to the key challenges of our time. Distinguished by an inclusive, global focus for insights and lessons that can help shape 21st century society. This vision is rooted in the awareness of the fragility of our civilisation and the supposition that societies can be characterised by the way they treat their Jewish citizens. The Jewish experience - and especially the way in which antisemitism has emerged in different settings - can no longer be of mere antiquarian interest or commemorated in ritualised fashion. Rather, the lessons of the Jewish past need to be applied politically and ethically in order to enhance and deepen civil society.” The news of the new institute has also been of interest to the wider community outside the university. Brighton resident Dr Winston Pickett, former director of the European Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, expressed his view that the new development is welcome and significant, “This Institute fills an important gap in the field of Jewish studies. Its interdisciplinary, collaborative and active engagement with the wider world through scholarship and teaching - values so embodied by Lord Weidenfeld’s legacy - comes at an important juncture for UK Jewry.” After the event, Michael Crook, chair of the Sussex branch of the Jewish Historical Society said, “It was a fascinating evening, with excellent speakers, but not a great deal of new insight into the causes of rising antisemitism. The most positive response to the widespread use of social media to spread antisemitism came from Lord Pickles, who wants to see companies who allow any form of hatred on their sites to be classed as publishers, so that they can be prosecuted, as would newspapers carrying such material. However, there seems little sign that this will happen in the UK, allowing racial, religious and other forms of hatred to continue to undermine all attempts to produce a more tolerant and diverse society”. 12 Features 13 Chiune Sugihara and Family Saved by Gerald Oberman I often wondered how some of my Polish cousins escaped the Holocaust. I recently discovered how. Chiune Sugihara was the Japanese Vice Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. He saved the lives of 5,558 Jews during the Holocaust by issuing them with transit visas. I recently learnt that at least six of my cousins who escaped from Poland were saved by him. Display of transit visas at the Ninth Fort, Kaunas. Photograph by Brian Megitt. My paternal grandmother was Helene Marber and it is mainly some of her family who are mentioned here. Szmuel Mosze Marber was chairman of the District Zionist Organisation in Turek, Poland and Town Councillor. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1939 and interrogated. Immediately after his release, he left Poland with his son Kuba, and escaped to Lithuania. On 31st July 1940, he was issued with a transit visa by Chiune Sugihara and issue 296 | may 2019 via the USSR reached Kobe, a city in Japan, where there was a Jewish community. He then escaped to Shanghai, which was occupied by Japan. He came to the UK from Shanghai on an exchange, mainly of diplomats, and reached England in 1942. His son, Kuba Marber, escaped with his father to Lithuania. On 2nd August 1940 he was issued with a transit visa by Chiune Sugihara and via the USSR reached Kobe, thence Palestine in 1941. He fought with the Palestine Brigade. He enlisted with the Polish army and fought in the Battle of Tobruk in 1942. He reached Glasgow in 1943. Abram Marber was issued with a transit visa by Chiune Sugihara on 31st July 1940. He escaped via Lithuania and the USSR to Kobe and reached China in 1940. He was stranded there until 1947. He made his way by ship to San Francisco arriving there on 24th September 1947, thence Paris. A few other cousins escaped in a similar way. I discovered another cousin was also saved by Sugihara. He also escaped through Lithuania and the USSR and thence to Kobe. He was then on a ship. I know the name of the ship, the destination and the date. He then went to another country which I know. I emailed a relative of his with my finding, which I thought he would find exciting. But I cannot say who he was nor publish any more details. I emailed him back and said I understood and must have been mistaken. Genealogical information is not always wanted by recipients. It is strange that Sugihara seems largely unknown in the Jewish community and not more appreciated for his work in saving so many. easyJet 2019 flights to Israel by Brian Megitt Many of us fly easyJet from Gatwick to Tel Aviv and try to take advantage of the low fares when the new timetables are announced. Imagine our disappointment then, when we looked on-line to see if we could book for our autumn visit to see our daughter and family in Jerusalem. According to easyJet’s online statement they no longer have flights from Gatwick to Tel Aviv but still have them from Luton. This didn’t sound so good to us, so I questioned easyJet directly as to why they had stopped flying to Israel from Gatwick. This is their reply: “We haven’t cancelled any flights to and from Israel. It is a winter only route and will be bookable again later in April when Winter ‘19 flights are put on sale.” Winter, in easyJet terms, means from the end of October to the following March, so it looks like the New Year festivities in Israel will not be enjoyed via Gatwick. The next step is to see if we can encourage easyJet to provide kosher food on their Israel flights. The smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels they used to serve were excellent but now the menu tends to include the ham sandwich. I shall do my best. Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 14 15 The Chutzpah Choir has recently expanded its membership and enjoys meeting on most Tuesday mornings to learn Yiddish songs, both old and new, under the inspiring leadership of Polina Shepherd. Some of the songs are sung in unison; others are in 4 or even 5 parts and yes, we are men as well as women. Recently we had a busy performance weekend. On Saturday 9 March we sang at an evening of international music Spiel! at the Brunswick pub in Holland Road (see photo), the other acts being two local bands: Karandash playing music from Eastern Europe and The Rebets of Brighton, a lively Greek band with a singer. The smallish venue was full to capacity. Then the very next day we travelled to London to sing in a Four Choirs Concert, consisting of Polina’s two Russian issue 296 | may 2019 choirs as well as her two Yiddish choirs. The church was full to capacity. We do enjoy taking this wonderful Yiddish music out to the wider community and we find that audiences always love it regardless of their backgrounds. Our current repertoire is very varied. There’s a beautiful song A Malekh Veynt (An Angel Weeps) written by Peretz Hirshbein (1880 – 1948), as well as the traditional Oy, a Shuster Darf Ikh Nit (Oy, I shouldn’t have a Cobbler) – all about a girl who doesn’t want to marry a cobbler or a yeshiva bokher, and the tailor doesn’t want her, but actually she’s really waiting for the man who promised to marry her but still hasn’t. Then there’s Der Yokh, translated into Yiddish from the original Catalan, a protest song about becoming free of the toil of the yoke. Another of our current favourites is Di Krenitse (The Well), composed, recorded and made famous by the Israeli singer Chava Alberstein. So quite a variety: some humorous and fun, some sad and moving, some on historical and serious topics. Most of us don’t speak Yiddish – we just learn the words phonetically, although we do have free translations available. A relatively new innovation is that sometimes when Polina is not available to take a session we meet in a member’s home to learn more about the Yiddish language used in the songs, from one of our members who has studied the language for several years. If you or anyone you know likes singing and might like to join this choir, where the music speaks to the Jewish soul, why not come along for a taster session to try it out? You’d be made very welcome. Contact Betty Skolnick on chutzpahchoir@gmail.com for further details. An exhibition of the Israeli music photographer, Gili Dailes, will be displayed at the Brighton- based French bistro-gallery Mange Tout for five weeks starting 5th May. Gili specialises in concert photography and since moving to Brighton almost 5 years ago, she has been photographing shows, primarily in London and Brighton, for several music publications and artists. A photo she took of Nothing More’s frontman Jonny Hawkins was recently selected to be published in a music photography magazine curated by the renowned American photographer Adam Elmakias. The same photo was later chosen to be exhibited at lens manufacturer Sigma’s headquarters in Los Angeles. Her exhibition, titled One by One Sixty, will include photos of well-known artists such as Anderson Paak and Florence + The Machine alongside local and up-and- coming bands. “In my photography I strive to capture the dynamics, energy and passion of the performer on stage whilst capturing as much of the atmosphere at the venue as possible. My colourful take on concert photography is not always an accurate documentation of reality - rather an attempt to represent a memory or a feeling”, Gili explains. One by One Sixty ‘Mange Tout’ 81 Trafalgar St 5th May- 9th June Private viewing night 8th May 6pm-9pm www.gilitography.com Chutzpah Choir: a busy performance weekend One by One Sixty by Yael Breuer Culture 14 Sussex Jewish Representative 15 Council issue 296 | may 2019 sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com 16 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 17 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Sharing Sorrow and Bringing Hope by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah One of the saddest duties of a Rabbi is to conduct a With the help of Israeli and Palestinian psychologists, funeral. Of course, it is a mitzvah to accompany the the PCFF facilitates meetings between Israelis and dead – and the living; to walk alongside those who walk Palestinians who have lost loved ones in the conflict, so through the valley of the shadow of death. But it is also that they can talk about and share their experiences. If very sad and sobering. Since I became Rabbi of BHPS in you watched the TV programme, ‘We Are British Jews’, December 2000, I have conducted the funerals of around broadcast on BBC2 in September 2018, you will have 220 members. A Rabbi has a particular and ongoing seen in the second episode, the participants, who were familiarity with the finite nature of life. drawn from right across the Jewish spectrum in Britain, Life is complex and in Hebrew, ‘life’, chayyim, is a plural word that expresses that complexity. On 9th May it will be Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day and the 71st travel to Israel where among other things they met two parents, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who are part of the PCFF. anniversary of the establishment of the state. Since 1951, Since 2006, the PCFF has participated in an alternative the preceding day, designated as Yom Ha-Zikaron, ‘The memorial gathering on Yom Ha-Zikaron, dedicated to Day of Memorial’, has been set aside for commemoration remembrance of both Israelis and Palestinians who have of the soldiers and civilians killed during the decades died in the conflict. This year’s commemoration has the of conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours and theme, ‘Sharing Sorrow, Bringing Hope’ (see: http:// between Israel and the Palestinians. theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-activities_eng/memorial- Political attempts to resolve the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians have failed so far. Out of this impasse, in 1995 a joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation, the Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF) was set up to bring together those who have been bereaved on both sides – that is those with a tragic common bond who ‘instead of choosing revenge ... ceremony_eng/). While the political status quo remains largely unchanged, a growing number of those whose lives have been particularly devastated by the eruptions of violence over the past seven decades are listening to one another, acknowledging each other’s pain and forging relationships. As we commemorate Yom Ha-Zikaron this year, let us commit ourselves to listening to all their voices. have chosen a path of reconciliation’ (see: https://www. facebook.com/pg/FriendsBereavedFamiliesForum/about/). Events@BHPS Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and a talk and discussion. On May 10 we’ll be featuring ‘The Lansdowne Storytellers’. Members are invited to tell a story in up to six minutes. Erev Shavuot Saturday 8 June at 8.00 pm Erev Shavuot Service followed at 9.00 pm by Tikkun Leyl Shavuot. All night study session (with cheesecake and refreshments) finishing with a 5.00 am Shacharit service at the beach. Brighton Youth Orchestra String Ensemble The Youth Orchestra will perform at BHPS at 7.30 pm on Sunday 30 June. The programme is Bach’s Concerto for 3 Violins, Pastoral Suite by Avril Coleridge Taylor, 5 Greek Dances by Nikos Skalkottas. Adults £15, Children Under 16 years £10. See the synagogue website to book through Eventbrite or ring the office. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli For those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. Classes on Shabbat 2.15-3.45 pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. Please note there will be no classes on 4 May. Unit 5: From Life to Death 11 May: Birth 18 May: Bar/Bat/B’ Mitzvah & Kabbalat Torah 25 May: Kiddushin: Marriage 1 June: Shavuot issue 296 | may 2019 Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli Shabbat afternoons, 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm. Open to students of all levels. To join, please contact the synagogue. Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11.00 am – 4.00 pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. People’s Campaign to get a disabled toilet at Old Shoreham Road Cemetery North The second Open Meeting to discuss a lack of an accessible toilet will be on 3pm Monday 20 May at BHPS. The first meeting included representatives from the Reform and Progressive synagogues, the Head of Life Events from Brighton Corporation, Vanessa Brown, Conservative Councillor for Hove Park and Aaron Morris, Funeral Director. Frida Gustafsson from CitizensUK provided guidance. For further information please contact Michael Austin, roag6b@ btinternet.com All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or by ringing 01273-737223. 16 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 17 BrightonReform issue 296 | may 2019 Good Reasons to Celebrate by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Is there a point in celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut? Israel is now a reality. Yes, it is located in a bad neighbourhood, but the conflict with the Palestinians is effectively managed and almost every week we learn of another Muslim country, eager to establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish State. Our enemies are losing allies and Israel is there to stay. Then why celebrate the obvious? Israel is present in our life almost every day. From nanotechnologies to TV series and even those who want to boycott the Jewish State can be caught drinking Israeli wine, using Israeli software and watching Shtisel or Fauda on Netflix. We celebrate Israel every day, so why do we need a special day for it? Also, Israel is the powerhouse of Jewish culture. It is the country where Hebrew is the language for daily life, it is the place of highest Jewish learning, where Rabbis of all denominations interact and learn from each other; it is the State where Jewish values are not only preached from the pulpit but shape the legislation. There may still be some anti- Zionist Jews, but it is a pathetic minority, often disguised as “pro-Palestinian” and it may be healthy to remind them that history has proven the Zionists right. But do we really need a special day for that? My answer is yes! Even if Israel is not new anymore, and many other, younger, States exist, yet there are good reasons to look at the foundation of the Jewish State as an inspirational moment, whose beneficial effects reverberate through the generations. First of all, as Jews, we are commanded to bless all the good things that happen in life. The existence of Israel, a safe shelter where we Jews can find refuge if and when things become bad for us, is in itself a reason to bless, because of the sense of safety and pride that it gives to us. But there is another reason to celebrate the existence of Israel, and it is a cultural reason. In the current cultural climate, victimhood is highly regarded. Perhaps a bit too much. Almost all communities and minorities constantly show off their wounds, ask for reparation, point out how much they are marginalised and excluded. Most of these claims are genuine and much needs to be done to build a really inclusive society. But there is certainly something wrong when being victims, being oppressed, being marginalised becomes the only thing one has to say about his or her own culture or community. How different is the history of the Jewish people, from a Zionist perspective? Since the foundation of the State of Israel, Jewish history is not a series of persecutions but first and foremost the story of a people that takes its own destiny into its own hands, that achieves self-determination and fulfils its own aspiration, repeated for centuries at the conclusion of the Seder “next year in Jerusalem”. For this reason, because our history is not only a history of persecutions but also a history of resilience and fulfilment of hope, the existence of Israel, this light unto the nations, is a source of pride and well worth being celebrated. Yom haAtzmaut Sameach! Bulletin Board – May Regular Activities Fridays Kuddle up Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 am Events Wednesday 1 yom HaShoah service, 6.30 pm Saturday 4 *The ‘Z’ Word with Rabbi, 9.00 am Shabbat Doroteinu & Shabbaton, 10.30 am Wednesday 8 yom Hazikaron Thursday 9 yom Ha’atzmaut Friday 10 Shabbat Kolot followed by Chavurah Supper, 6.30 pm Saturday 11 Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Saturday 18 Shabbat Service followed by special kiddush to celebrate Michael Harris’s special birthday, 10.30 am Saturday 25 Book Club, 9.15 am Sunday 26 No Cheder (*) Please book your place by calling the Shul Office The diary is subject to change. 18 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 19 The Second Time Around by Rabbi Hershel Rader Sunday 19 May is Pesach Sheini – the Second Pesach. The institution of Pesach Sheni (the Second Pesach) Its origin is in the Sidra of Beha’alotcha: was prompted by the heartfelt desire of those who, G-d spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert ... saying: ‘The children of Israel should prepare the Passover [offering] at its appointed time. On the fourteenth of this month, in the afternoon ... in accordance with all its decrees and laws....’ despite their impurity, pleaded, ‘Why should we be prevented from bringing the offering of G d?’ The mitzvah was given as a response to an expression of man’s inner need to establish a bond with G d. This need exists in potential in every Jewish heart. Man’s plea for ‘one more chance’ reflects the mode of divine There were, however, certain persons who had become serv¬ice called Teshuva (repentance; lit. ‘return’). For ritually impure through contact with a dead body and everyone, even a person who is ‘on a distant path’ therefore could not prepare the Passover offering on possesses a Divine potential which always seeks to that day. They approached Moses and Aaron ... and realise itself. Pesach Sheini teaches us the profoundly they said: ‘...Why should we be deprived, and not be important lesson that ‘it’s never too late’ – particularly if able to present G-ds offering in its time, amongst the we are prepared to step up and take the initiative. children of Israel?’ And Moses said to them: ‘Wait here and I will hear what G-d will command concerning you.’ And G-d spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Any person who is contaminated by death, or is on a distant road, whether among you now or in future generations, shall prepare a Passover BHHC and HHC Joint Holocaust Memorial Service at New Church Road Shul offering to G-d. They shall prepare it on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the second month, and shall eat it Wednesday 1st May at 7.00 pm with matzahs and bitter herbs....’ (Numbers 9:1-12) Our Weekly Shiurim Three shiurim are currently held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Wednesdays, 12.30 - 1.30 pm. Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur. (no charge). Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). issue 296 | may 2019 Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com 18 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 19 On betrothal by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer “I will betroth You to Me for ever; I will betroth You to Me in righteousness and justice, lovingkindness and compassion; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord.” (Hosea 2: 19-20) In the current build up towards the Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) in the Counting of the Omer, one cannot omit the analogy and imagery of a bride and bridegroom on the brink of their entering into mutual exclusivity. Indeed, the concept of a Chuppah, the marriage canopy, is so fundamental to the Jewish faith that it is no wonder that we make mention of it at every given opportunity. For those who have attended a circumcision ceremony at some point in their life, they will have noticed that the blessing given to the baby by all and one is: “Just as he has entered into the covenant (Brit Milah), so should he enter into Torah, the Chuppah and good deeds.” Every seventh day we make special mention of the Sabbath ‘bride’ and there is even graphic imagery expounded upon in the Talmud of Mount Sinai being lifted over the heads of the Israelites as a wedding canopy whilst the Israelites were offered and coerced into accepting the Law as outlined in the Torah. On the Festival of Simchat Torah, the culmination of Succot (Tabernacles), children stand under a Tallit as they are called up to the Torah, enacting and creating a Chuppah and if we are to take the analogy a stage further, then we see the entire Book of ‘Song of Songs’ as written by King Solomon (and recited typically on the Sabbath eve) as a mystical depiction of the unity between the Almighty God and His people, vividly brought down to earth as the ultimate relationship of love between man and woman, a welding together and fusing of souls. issue 296 | may 2019 It is no surprise then, given the gravity and importance attached to the bonds of marriage within Judaism, that the study of the mystical dimension of the Torah is only typically recommended and permitted to those who are married, for where would one invest the love experienced in the realisation of Gods’ love, outside of the marriage union? It is a consecrated union, hence its Hebrew title ‘Kiddushin’, stemming from its root ‘Kadosh’, that which is holy. The Torah in its Divine wisdom does not romanticise the wedding union, in fact it recognises that precisely because the union is so precious and therefore fragile, it requires to be instituted and protected legally, officially witnessed and documented with the Ketubah so that it be not open to manipulation or whimsical tendencies. It is moreover, essential that both bride and groom comprehend the very nature of the transaction taking place under the Chuppah and be fully and consciously aware of their actions. Within such a union flourishes all of the very basic elements essential to Jewish life. One cannot ignore it or distort it; however hard society tries. We can live, survive and thrive without King and without Temple but the Jewish soul cannot strive and sometimes withers and fades without the Jewish home, blossoming out of a marriage dedicated to those lofty ideals Divinely bestowed upon mankind. It has been handed down to us since time immemorial and is to my mind, assuming one is fortunate enough to have found one’s life partner, incredibly humbling. It is after all, hallowed by He who knew the ways of man even before the creation of man. It is, therefore, rather bewildering to me to see couples visibly of faith who espouse these values, who frequently portray themselves with a miserable countenance; they should rather reflect and smile. So, let me conclude with a blessing to all those who have yet to find their future life partner and spouse, that they do so smoothly and with joy and to those who are already committed to their marital dedication, that they rejoice amidst gladness of spirit and laughter ... at least a little. TOP HATS and THE LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB Proudly present “OUR FAVOURITE THINGS” CABARET & SUNDAY NIGHT BAGEL SUPPER On June 30th at 6.30pm at Ralli Hall, 81 Denmark Villas, Hove BN3 3TH Tickets: £15 each, from Laura: 01273 722173 (tables of 10) 20 What’s on: May 2019 IMPORTANT INFORMATION Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com vehicle. SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE 20 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Mondays Fri 3 8.06 pm Sat 4 9.24 pm Fri 10 8.17 pm Sat 11 9.37 pm Fri 17 8.28pm Sat 18 9.50 pm Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Fri 24 8.37 pm Sat 25 10.02 pm Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group Fri 31 8.45 pm Sat 1 June 10.13 pm based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 SPECIAL DATES 669181 Wednesday 1 (evening) – Erev Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Tuesdays Day) Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every Thursday 2 – Yom Hashoah other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 Wednesday 8 – Yom Hazikaron (Israel Remembrance Day) am Tel: 01273 732035 Thursday 9 – Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline Thursday 23 – Lag B’Omer01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from EVENTS IN MAY 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Wednesdays Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: Middle Street Synagogue will be open for visitors during the Brighton Festival, Wednesdays from 12.00 pm and Sundays from 2.30 pm 07811 601106 Recommences for the summer term on 7 May Chutzpah Choir yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 Thursday 2 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com JACS with guest speaker Sir Andrew Bowden MP at. Ralli Hall, or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Denmark Villas, Hove 2.00 – 4.00 pm. £3.00 to include refreshments Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ Sunday 5 to Sunday 9 June talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com ‘One by One Sixty’ Exhibition at by Israeli music photographer Gili Dailes at Mange Tout, 81 Trafalgar Street, Brighton Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Monday 6 Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the June 2019 issue. Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Thursdays Wednesday 8 ‘The Other Story’ SJRC celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut with Seret International – Israeli Film Festival at central Hove location 7.30 pm. For tickets register by 3 May by emailing sussexjewishrepco@gmail. Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH com (see announcement in this issue) Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Sunday 12 Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - Seret International Israeli Film Festival screening of ‘Tel Aviv on Fire’ 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Dukes@Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton 8.30 pm. For tickets £12.40/£11.40 contact the cinema on 0871 902 5747 Fridays Wednesday 15 Brighton Fringe Festival Guest with Naomi Paul – Jewish comedy ‘Price includes Biscuits’ at Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton Tickets £8/£5concs. Phone 01273 917212 Thursday 16 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Cuddington Golf Club. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at ashley@sportscastnet.com Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturday 18 Saturdays Private Eurovision Party and Screening in conjunction with Sussex Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans Friends of Israel in a pub in Hove, with glitz and glam and our very own reporter in Tel Aviv broadcasting live from the show. Contact BNJC at Ashley.woolfe@bnjc.co.uk Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Thursday 30 Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 Visit Hyman Fine residents participating in ‘Flourish Brighton 2019’ at 725650 Yellowave Clubhouse, 299 Madeira Drive, Brighton 10.00 am – 5.00 pm Please note that our next issue will be June 2019 The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 6 May 2019 issue 296 | may 2019 -
Issue 295
April 2019
1 april 2019 • aDar ii – NiSaN 5779 • iSSUE 295 SUSSEx SUSSEx JEwiSh JEwiSh NEwS NEwS what’S iNSiDE.... MaGEN DaViD | BENNY thE Shirt | thE aMBEr CUp | pESaCh rECipES | what’S ON | aND MOrE Whats 2 A Tribute to Evelyn Lipman by Sidney Lipman 3 As we all know, a legacy can manifest itself in more ways But why should I regret the years that fled, than one. For me, it is the writings and poetry of my late wife, Evelyn, who bequeathed them to me. I will forever treasure them in my mind. Share with me this poem of hers from 1990. For what nostalgic dream should I repine? I laughed and loved through magic moonlit hours And felt the throbbing heart beat close to mine Reflections Relentlessly the years have sped away Sweeping along the hopes, the dreams, the fears; Longings, half stifled but still deep within Disturb the even rhythm Have I not known the warmth of glowing sun And strolled amid crisp leaves of autumn gold – And gazed, enchanted by a baby’s smile, Filled with the solemn wonder of it all? of the tide It seems that only emptiness Oh half-forgotten phantom that was youth, What quenched the fiery spirit on the way And dimmed the vital spark that shone within Like dusk descending at the close of day? remains – Yet, dwelling deep within the heart’s retreat, A sad sweet something lingers wistfully – Maybe the distant echo of a dream. Cover: Passover Food for Thought by Brian Megitt. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. issue 295 | april 2019 COVER IMAGE Brian Megitt PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 APRIL 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 PESACH FOOD FOR THOUGHT by Brian Megitt 2 REMEMBERING... Sidney Lipman offers Reflections of his wife Evelyn z’l 6 OBITUARY & TRIBUTES– RABBI JEREMY COLLICK Z’L by Ivor Sorokin, Gweni Sorokin and Gerry Crest 9 MAGEN DAVID Barbara Gordon hugs the Jewish world 10 ZEH RAK DA’ATI – 6 Godfrey Gould on moving to Brighton 10 BENNY THE SHIRT Rochelle Oberman and Natalie Wrightman look back on a cousin 12 CHAG PESACH SAME’ACH Recipes and the Chief Rabbi’s Message REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 14 CULTURE The Amber Cup, book review and the Historical Society 20 WHAT’S ON – APRIL Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 16 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 17 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 18 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 19 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: £40 per Flyer Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 295 | april 2019 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Jacqueline Heyworth, Daniel Lachs, Stella Lawrence, David Lyons, David Melcher and all who have special birthdays this month. Bar Mitzvah Mazel tov to Claire and Sam Barsam and family on the bar mitzvah of their grandson Nathan Herz. Wedding Anniversaries Mazel tov to: • Cecile and Sidney Levine on the celebration of their Diamond (60th) wedding anniversary • Barbara and Ian Gordon on their wedding anniversary • Philippa and Julian Lazarus on their special anniversary (10 years) Get Well We wish Refuah Sheleimah to all who are in hospital or unwell at the present time. Deaths We wish Long Life to the families of: • Walter Bush z’l • Rabbi Dr Jeremy Collick z’l Ralli Hall by Maxine Gordon If you came to our recent Barn Dance we hope you had fun, enjoyed the band’s music and tucked into our Wild West food! Bookings are already selling fast for our next event. If you fancy a delicious kosher salt beef sandwich on rye, latkes, cucumbers and refreshments, accompanied by a fabulous feature film, then join us at our next Film Club at Ralli Hall on Sunday 14 April. The Best of Men is a truly inspirational film, based on real WWII events and with a real WWII Jewish hero who deserves to be recognised for changing patients’ lives and creating the birth of the Paralympic Games that we so enjoy watching today. Remember that parking isn’t a problem either, as Hove Station Car Park only charges £2.25 all day on Sundays! Whilst we’re on the subject of Ralli Hall events, we are always happy to talk to members of the community who have always wanted to run their own club (with a Jewish theme of course), but don’t have anywhere to run it. Well, that’s where we can help from our Community Centre. If you have an idea, we can offer you an available, suitable space and work together. Many of our clubs are run by volunteers on a simple arrangement that suits you and more importantly, provides a service to the local Jewish community. We look forward to hearing your ideas. issue 295 | april 2019 BHHC plans get the green light On Wednesday 20 March the Planning Committee of the Brighton & Hove City Council approved the plans for the redevelopment of the BHHC site. Readers may recall that SJN reported on the original consultation meeting held at Ralli Hall in September 2017 (SJN Issue 279, October/ November 2017). Much water has flowed under the bridge since then and there have been numerous meetings and doubtless many challenges faced those involved. The sponsor of this important regeneration project, the Bloom Foundation, has expressed its delight at receiving the go-ahead from Brighton & Hove City Council. The Foundation’s vision, to build high-quality, sustainable facilities open to the entire local community, while at the same time revitalising Jewish life in the city, is becoming a reality. The project will provide a beautiful synagogue, new housing and a range of educational, workspace and social amenities for all to enjoy. 4 5 issue 295 | april 2019 6 Sussex and the City 7 Rabbi Dr Jeremy Collick A Tribute from Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue by Ivor Sorokin By 1986, our wonderful founding Rabbi Erwin Rosenblum had become very unwell and a search was instigated for a replacement. We knew that he would be a hard act to follow, but after many enquiries chanced upon the name of a young Rabbi who was assistant at Edgware Reform Synagogue. He was invited to come down for a weekend to take part in some services: thankfully, we knew that our search was well and truly over. Apart from having a wonderful and engaging personality, Rabbi Dr Jeremy Collick was a very traditional Rabbi, who was well able to follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Rosenblum. What a wonderful choice this was to be. He was an ideal congregational Rabbi, giving solace to any of our congregants who had personal troubles and always having the right words of comfort to say at the right moment. His sermons were always wonderful and inspirational, often with a little joke at the end and he made many real friends among our congregation. One of his many talents was a feeling for our youth. The cheder quickly expanded to number over 100 children, and he encouraged our post-bar mitzvah youths to stay on to help with teaching the younger ones. He met and married one of our local girls, Cindy Dicks, and they had two boys, Joel and Jacob: the fairytale seemed complete. However, in 2001, he felt that the boys needed more of a Jewish life and education and he accepted a call from Edgware Masorti synagogue. He was there for some 14 years until deteriorating health forced him to retire. He bore this with great fortitude and still managed to have a laugh and a joke with his visitors. Many members of our large congregation, who greeted him when he came down last November, will fondly remember his ultimate sermon, which he delivered before he and Cindy were due to go on Aliyah in January. Sadly, this was not to be. Due to the rapid deterioration of his condition, he tragically passed away in February. We wish Cindy, Joel, Jacob and Hilary, Jeremy’s sister, a long and fruitful life. Rest in peace, Jeremy, our Rabbi, mentor and friend. issue 295 | april 2019 Tribute from Gweni Sorokin When Rabbi Jeremy Collick came to BHRS he worked with Rabbi Rosenblum, of blessed memory, who was a tough act to follow. When he arrived in Hove for the first time, Ivor and I gave him hospitality. Subsequently, he became a frequent visitor to our house, giving us a real insight into his personality. Ivor, chairman at the time, was instrumental in persuading him to become our Rabbi and as I was the choir leader, we worked together very closely on all aspects of music in the services. Every sermon he gave was clear, concise and deeply meaningful. At funerals there were no platitudes - just always the right words. When my mother died, he flew back from his holiday to give me comfort and nine days later, when Ivor’s mother died, he was there for us again. He married Cindy, a local girl, whom we have known since she was a child and together they raised two wonderful boys who will always be a credit to them. After fifteen years as our Rabbi he moved to Edgware Masorti in order to give his family a more Jewish environment, but kept constantly in touch. We were invited to his children’s bar mitzvahs and to his farewell service. His desire to live in Israel was not to be, due to his failing health but I’m sure his spirit will be there. Tribute from Gerry Crest When Rabbi Rosenblum, of Blessed Memory, had to retire, we knew that it would be more than difficult to find a rabbi who would understand and maintain the established traditions. So, it was as if the lights had been switched on when Jeremy Collick entered the boardroom. Even on that first meeting his outstanding personality shone through. The picture became complete when he and Cindy married and then Joel and Jacob arrived. Since that time Rabbi Jeremy and I shared a wonderful relationship. He was our Rabbi, friend and colleague. He officiated at the bar mitzvah of our son David and when Sharon and I married. Jeremy shared with us our times of sadness and joy. At times of sad loss in our family, he appeared as if out of nowhere. He had been a guiding light in my life. The treasured memories of our Rabbi Jeremy will live permanently with all members of the Crest family. May his dear soul rest in peace. 6 Sussex and the City 7 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer In the next few months we have some great things planned at the Lunch Club. On 30 May the lovely Doris Levinson is going to give us a talk about her very interesting life. Please come and join us for lunch and listen to Doris’s talk afterwards. On the first Thursday of each month we welcome JACS who join us for lunch and always have an interesting speaker afterwards. On the 30 June we are so excited that Top Hats and The Lunch Club are getting together for a Sunday night bagel supper and cabaret by Top Hats. Tables will be limited (tables of 10) for this event so please call Laura for tickets on 01273 722173 early to avoid disappointment. On Tuesday 2 July we are having a musical afternoon with the Silver Strings Orchestra coming to entertain us, which will be a very enjoyable afternoon. If you would like to join me on a Tuesday morning for some light exercise, which will help with posture and also put a smile on your face, please come around 11.00 am. Our exercises are seated so you will get a good workout in complete safety. Come and improve your range of movement, At the beginning of May we are going on our regular weekend breathing and general health. away to Eastbourne and it looks like we have a record number of people joining us. We are still hoping that some of you will come and join us in the afternoon to enjoy a good game of cards: bridge or I keep on telling you how good our food is so I thought I kalooki or even rummikub. would give you an idea of a few of our menus: On a sad note we would like to wish the family of the late • The menu for Tuesday 16 April: Soup of the Day, Salt Beef Betty Solomon long life. Betty was a lovely lady and a with Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Broccoli, Potato Latkes dedicated volunteer at the Lunch Club for many years, we will followed by Banana Splits. miss her. • The menu for Thursday 18 April: Soup of the Day, Fresh Everyone at The Lunch & Social Club wishes you a good Salmon with Cauliflower, Peas and New Potatoes, followed Pesach. Just to let you know we will be closed on Tuesday by Fruit Trifle. 23 and Thursday 25 April for Pesach and we will be back to On 21 March Rabbi Efune and the Lunch Club enjoyed our normal on Tuesday 29 April. annual Purim party. Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons The first meeting of our busy golfing season on 17 April will be at Seaford Golf Club, high on the Sussex Downs. Laurence Alexander, our new Captain, will “drive-in” from the first tee and the meeting is sure to be very well attended and enjoyed by all. It will be a great day with an excellent dinner in the evening. This will be a busy year for us with matches against Dyrham Park, Coombe Hill, Abridge and Hartsbourne, the prestigious London golf and country clubs, as well as TOP HATS and THE LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB entering teams in the Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies’ national tournaments. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and Proudly present “OUR FAVOURITE THINGS” female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com CABARET & SUNDAY NIGHT BAGEL SUPPER Important message On June 30th at 6.30pm HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS at Ralli Hall, 81 Denmark Villas, Hove BN3 3TH If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ Tickets: £15 each, from Laura: 01273 722173 sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 (tables of 10) 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. issue 295 | april 2019 8 9 issue 295 | april 2019 8 Features 9 The Magen David speaks for itself by Barbara Gordon Luciana Berger, great-niece of Manny Shinwell, resigned from the Labour party because of antisemitism. We Jews are bewildered at the turn of events in the country that nurtured our grandparents and in which we have prospered. In January, my husband Ian and I were fortunate to take a cruise to South Africa where we stayed in Cape Town and also toured the ‘garden route’. On the ship we had Friday night Shabbat services attended by 30-40 people but we rarely encountered our co-religionists during the trip. Here I must digress; after the atrocities in Paris I started to wear my Magen David around my neck to show solidarity – something that had never seemed particularly important to me when I lived in NW London. The demonstrations in London last year, that ‘enough was enough’, just strengthened my resolve. (a small protest, but my own!). On arrival in Cape Town we went to the large shopping mall - where else? There we were accosted by two charming ladies from Washington because they spotted my Magen David and stopped for a chat, delighted to meet their fellow Jews. After a fairly long conversation and exchange of email addresses we parted with hugs and kisses. The following day we set out for the Jewish Museum – but forgot to take with us any form of identification (although we had been advised to do so). Quite correctly the security guards refused us entry on those grounds. What to do? Ian said he wasn’t going to be defeated and very soon I saw him talking to a lady who was just coming out. After learning of our predicament and knowing us for at least 10 minutes, Merle then vouched for us with the security people, stating that she had known us for umpteen years and gave her details as security for us. Of course, Merle had taken one look at us and ‘it takes one to know one’ doesn’t it? We parted with our thanks and, again, hugs and kisses with a stranger. Fast forward to our last day in Cape Town when we attended a ‘Jazz Brunch’. The musical quartet was led by a middle-aged drummer who seemed to be Jewish and, sure enough, approached us during the interval. This time we parted with a hand–shake. However, just as we were leaving, a Dutch couple from Amsterdam approached Ian to congratulate him on his colourful choice of clothing. On seeing me, however, the lady opened the neck of her blouse to reveal her Star of David. More hugs and kisses. So, what am I trying to say? We experienced these hugs and kisses with perfect strangers but, of course, they aren’t strangers, are they? No, they’re family and through our mothers aren’t we all members of that CLUB where membership lasts a lifetime – whether we may wish it or not. Now, I’m not advocating that Ian and I hug and kiss every Jewish face we see in Waitrose in Hove but shouldn’t we acknowledge each other more? So next time we attend our particular Synagogue or e.g. Ralli Hall, let’s remember the proud heritage we all share and greet each other with warmth and smiles - perhaps then things won’t seem so bad. issue 295 | april 2019 Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail. com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 10 Features 11 Zeh Rak Da’ati - 6 by Godfrey R Gould On 1 April 1966, 53 years ago, I started an improved salary. We had by then, work in Brighton. anyway, rationalised our finances First, I had to find somewhere to live. Coming from North East England I found house prices, certainly of the kind of house and in the area in which we wanted to live, ridiculously high. My (shortly to be) wife, Maureen, (we had met the year previously in Israel), who lived then in Wembley, thought the house prices perfectly reasonable. What actually determined what we could afford was what I earned. And so we purchased on a substantial endowment mortgage (it worked out fine in the end) a very nice three bedroom semi in Portslade just north of the Old Shoreham Road and but one street from the border with Southwick. Even my in-laws approved. They thought it would be good to have somewhere on the coast to visit. Indeed, when my father-in-law retired they actually moved and were able to move to a much larger semi in Neville Road - even with a Jewish family next door and another just around the corner. The late Jean Spector commented that we had moved “further in”. Maureen wondered further in to what, as if we moved again we didn’t want to move past it. Jean didn’t quite get the quip! However, things did not work out quite so simply. After a while Maureen found it increasingly difficult to get around. As she suspected she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease which progressively deprives the sufferer of all capabilities. Maureen had worked with the MS Society in Wembley and Harrow before we were married and so was fully aware of the condition. So we set about trying to find a suitable bungalow or flat into which to move. to Hove. We thought it somewhat away Not that easy! There is a general dearth from Jewish life, but it was amazing of bungalows locally and we needed how many other Jewish families we one on level ground and with enough soon found nearby. space to manage a wheelchair. Flats However, by 1969 I had obtained a much better post in Lewes and at were not that much better. In the 1970s concern about accessibility was not Benny the Shirt by Rochelle Oberman [née Sugarman] and Natalie Wrightman [née Sugarman] issue 295 | april 2019 anything like the priority it is today. By the end of 1975 we had sold our house at the full asking price but had nowhere into which to move. However, I managed to rent a small two-bedroom bungalow from East Sussex County Council in Peacehaven and so began nine horrendous months. Our second bedroom was crammed to the door with surplus furniture, and the garage with tea chests full of books, crockery and anything else we did not actually need for day to day living. Peacehaven may be better now but in 1976 I would not wish it on my worst enemy. We survived, especially due to the support we received from, amongst many others, former, now retired colleagues who lived nearby. But one day at the end of March 1976 I received a telephone call from one of my estate agents to say that the ideal property was about to come on the market. I arranged to view it the following morning. By the end of that afternoon I had received notification of the same property from another three agents! I had to pick up Maureen from her parents with whom she had The photo, taken around 1927, shows our grandfather, Abraham Sugarman. He is on Brighton beach with his eldest grandchild, our first cousin, Arthur Sugarman, who was known as Benny and then as Ben Sherman. Benny was 25 years older than me. He first left Brighton for New York just a few months before I was born in 1950. There he met and married his third wife Ruth Minken in 1953. Soon afterwards, he joined his father-in-law’s shirt manufacturing business in Los Angeles. In the early 1960s he returned to England together with Ruth and their three young sons, Danny, Marty and Jimmy. And it was in Brighton where he opened a factory above Burton’s at the Clock Tower. There he came up with the idea of the tight-fitting shirt with button-down collars which were to become such a favourite of the young ‘Mods’ and fashionable young men in those ‘swinging’ years, not just in England but around the world. The Sherman family moved to Furze Croft overlooking St Ann’s Well Gardens in Hove, and lived in two flats which had been knocked into one large apartment for the boys to run around in. Unfortunately, the marriage was not to last and Ruth and the boys returned to America. Benny then married his fourth wife, actress Daphne Cuddis. Later he moved to Australia where he met his new love. Benny died in Australia on 26 November 1986 and is buried in Macquarie Park Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia, in the Jewish Monumental C13. 10 Features 11 spent that day (she had to have 24 When Maureen and I married in 1966 hours a day care) but before I did so, I and set out on our life together we had decided to have a look at the property. no idea what lay in store. But we knew But I could not find it. I had just about we wanted to own our own home. We given up when I spotted a man down a used our savings to find the deposit on narrow lane and then discovered that a house and a huge slice of my salary he was the vendor. Discovering who I went every month on an endowment was, he showed me around. I knew at policy to cover the mortgage, and much once that this was THE place for us. on the interest on that mortgage. It The following morning, we offered the was a struggle. We lived from month full asking price without quibble and to month. Travelling abroad we might although I was gazumped, the vendor do every other year. Eating out was stuck to our verbal contract. As we for special occasions only. And we did were living in rented accommodation, not have a television until we’d been we had all the work done that we married for over five years. It was the needed to do before we moved in, in best decision we could have made. September that year. Our joy was all Now I own a very special one-off too short-lived as, after only two years, architect designed bungalow which we Maureen’s condition became so critical could not even have dreamed of when that after being admitted to the County we set out. Today young people simply Hospital with a consequent problem, cannot do what we did. House prices we were advised that she needed are astronomical. And everybody has to permanent medical care. The only have the latest gismo, travel widely and suitable available place for her was in eat out regularly. So they simply do not Linton Hospital near Maidstone, where have the money to cover the expenses she went Erev Succoth 1978 at the age of acquiring their own home. Looking of 41, and where she remained for the back, I can pity them. rest of her life. The prognosis was three months, but simply because of her total determination to stay alive, she survived for another eight years. Of course, it is not really so good. I do not have Maureen to share my contentment with me. But I am inspired by her example, her fortitude, her All this brings to my mind two points. resilience and her total passion for life. issue 295 | april 2019 She made everything positive. All her physical bodily functions failed one by one. When she lost her sight it was no great issue. Asked if she liked watching television she would reply, “No, but I like listening to it”. For Maureen every day was a special day to be used to the maximum. She did amazing things, like going to Rome and meeting the Pope - yes, really! I have a photograph of the two of them together to prove it. As her body functioned less and less, all that was left was her hearing and her speech. And when her vocal cords occasionally failed to accept the instructions of her brain and all she could utter was meaningless gibberish, then our distress was mutual. Today everybody has so many problems. Believe me, you don’t. When you are alive but your body will not function, then, maybe - only, maybe - you might have problems. Every day is special. Don’t waste it. Do what you can, and what you can’t do, don’t. It’s as simple as that. Be positive - think of all the good things. Then every day will be a reward. You will sleep happy and content to wake up tomorrow to discover something else again very special. 12 Features 13 Pesach Cakes and Desserts: a few old favourites Cinnamon Balls by June Jackson • 2 egg whites • 4 oz/110g caster sugar • 8 oz/225g ground almonds • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold in all other ingredients. With wet hands, form into balls and place on greased baking tray. Bake at Gas 3 or Electric 325C for 12 minutes then remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Place in bag of icing sugar and shake to coat the balls. Easy Pesach Almond Cake by Laura Sharpe • 4 eggs • 4 oz/110g granulated sugar • 4 oz/110g ground almonds Cream the eggs and sugar until fluffy and fold in ground almonds. Pour into a greased loaf tin or line with paper liner and bake at Gas 5/ Electricity 375C for approximately one hour, putting flaked almonds on top after half an hour’s baking time. Apple and Almond Pudding by Doreen Walker • 8 eggs • 4 large Bramley apples • sugar or sweetener to taste • 8 oz/225g ground almonds • 10 oz//280g caster sugar Stew the apples with the sugar until soft. Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add ground almonds and beat for 10 minutes (in machine). Put into a greased pie dish on top of sweetened stewed apple (with raisins if desired). Bake for 50/60 minutes at Gas 3/4 Electric 325C. Serve cold. Double Dark Chocolate Cake • 4 eggs • 200g dark chocolate (for Pesach) • 200g unsalted butter • 200g ground almonds • 100ml very strong coffee • 150g sugar Melt chocolate and butter together in a pan over a very gentle heat. As soon as the chocolate is melted, remove pan from heat and stir in ground almonds and coffee. Separate eggs. Mix yolks with sugar and mix with the chocolate and almond mixture, beating until thoroughly issue 295 | april 2019 blended. Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold carefully into the chocolate mixture a third at a time. Pile into a greased, lined cake tin with spring form (or lined with greaseproof paper). Bake in a preheated oven at 170C for about 30 minutes. Cake will rise a little, then settle back as it cools. Serve warm or cold with cream or ice cream if desired. Matzo pudding by Janet Cowan • 4 eggs • 7 large matzos • 200g caster sugar • 120g Tomor margarine, melted • 60g ground almonds • 150ml kiddush wine • 1 cooking apple peeled and grated • 140g sultanas (if you use dried fruit) • 100g chopped walnuts • 1tblspn cinnamon • 2tblspns chocolate powder For the topping: • 2 tbsp caster sugar; • 1 handful walnut pieces. Preheat oven - 150c/300f/gas mark 2. Break matzos into bite-sized pieces and wet them in a colander. When soggy, squeeze out any excess water and mix matzo pieces together with all other ingredients. Grease ovenproof dish, approximately 22cm square by 5cm deep. Pour in the matzo mixture. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle over pudding. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. 12 13 issue 295 | april 2019 14 15 With the opening of the Brighton Museum’s new Elaine Evans Archaeology Collection this past February, the public now has a rare glimpse into the history and the pre-history of Brighton and Hove. From the moment you step into this compact but amazingly comprehensive exhibit, the visitor is taken back to a time that pushes the boundaries of historical consciousness – from the Ice Age to the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age and across the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. Despite the leap across millennia, this time-travel experience is made easier by the engrossing use of computer- generated imagery, life-size DNA-based recreations of our early ancestors and an evocative sound and landscape depicting an era when wild, furry bison- like animals roamed our region and far outnumbered humans and the British Isles weren’t islands at all but attached to mainland Europe. This was an age when tribes buried their dead with jewellery, axes, whetstones and other precious objects – all of which were unearthed in the greater Brighton & Hove area, thanks to painstaking efforts of preservation carried out since the 1800s by historically aware members of associations like the Sussex Archaeological Society. It is a stunning collection, more than 20 years in the making and full of high-tech installations and original artefacts that stimulate the imagination and, for this visitor, at least, an uncommon sense of child-like wonder. Nowhere is this feeling amplified more than by what the museum’s curator, Dan Robertson, calls the collection’s ‘treasure’ – the Amber Cup. Previously known as the ‘Hove Amber Cup’ because of its former residence in a corner of issue 295 | april 2019 the Hove Museum, this hand-carved goblet fashioned from hardened resin from the Baltic region is straight out of the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BCE), making it some 3,200 years old. More intriguing still – as if a bottom-lit display rendering the Amber Cup visible with a roseate glow weren’t evocative enough – this one-of-a-kind artefact has a Jewish story behind it. Whilst the exhibit only briefly touches on the cup’s disinterment – it was discovered in the 1800s when workmen were clearing away what was popularly known as the ‘Hove Barrow’ (burial mound) in order to level the area that would become Palmeira Square – it was none other than Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Bart., who saw to it that the cup was preserved for posterity. In a captivating eyewitness account digitally reproduced on- line from an 1848 publication by the Sussex Archaeological Society we learn that during the excavation of the Hove Barrow, workmen came across an oak-hewn coffin containing a hand-carved cup made of amber, together with an iron- stone battle axe head, a whetstone and a bronze dagger. Cognisant of their significance, the news was relayed within hours to Baron Goldsmid, who owned the land and who, according to the 1848 account, instructed the Committee of the ‘Literary and Scientific Institution’ to present them to the Town Museum, which it very handsomely did, merely stipulating, “That these antiquities should, until the formation of the Town Museum, be placed in the Society’s reading- room, with particulars when and where they were found, and by whom presented”. For Jewish historians, Goldsmid’s biography has always been a multifaceted one: indefatigable champion of Jewish Emancipation during the Victorian Era, successful partner, with the father of architect David Mocatta, in the gold bullion business, founding director of the London and Brighton Railway that opened in 1841 and who helped create Brighton’s first purpose-built synagogue on Devonshire Place as well as the man who developed Adelaide Crescent and Palmeira Square itself. Goldsmid’s official title, Baron e da Palmeira, was granted him by the Portuguese for settling a financial dispute of Brexit-like complexity with Brazil in 1846. Now, it seems, Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was also an exemplary civic-minded Jewish philanthropist whose own innate historical consciousness helped put Hove on the map of archaeological preservation for generations to come. “The Amber Cup”, said Brighton Museum’s curator Dan Robertson, “is this institution’s greatest archaeological treasure; it wouldn’t be in our hands if it wasn’t for the generosity of Baron Goldsmid”. To access the 1848 publication by the Sussex Archaeological Society online, please go to http://www.digitaldigging. net/amber-cup-hove-barrow-brighton- archaeology From the Bronze Age to the 21st Century: A Jewish Story by Winston Pickett Culture 14 Culture 15 Jewish Historical Society – Sussex Branch by Michael Crook As an introduction to Jewish History Month, the branch welcomed Professor Michael Berkowitz to our February meeting with a bumper attendance. Michael is a leading member of the JHSE, editor of the Society’s annual publication ‘Jewish Historical Studies’, and lectures at UCL on a wide range of Modern Jewish History topics. His subject for the talk was ‘Jews and filmmaking during the Second World War in America and Britain’. He began by reminding us briefly that, whilst there were a very significant number of prominent Jewish filmmakers in Hollywood, America was, at least in theory, neutral until December 1941. However, Michael’s researches reveal that the US Government was already taking steps to prepare their nation for a war role at least a year earlier. He highlighted the role of Leo Rosten, better known as an author, and scriptwriter in Hollywood, but appointed as deputy head of Roosevelt’s Office of War Information and head of the Office’s motion pictures division. Rosten was probably instrumental in enlisting the help of some of the best-known Jewish filmmakers from Hollywood, but their involvement was rarely made public, due to fears that it would encourage antisemitism, which was by no means unknown in the US at that time. Michael continued by explaining how Rosten and his colleagues began by making films to be shown to the troops, The Pope’s Son - Rick Friend Review by Gillian Rich issue 295 | april 2019 which emphasised the wide variety of origins of the people of the US, although without mentioning the Jews. Later, they took many ideas from the British War films already in existence, not least in making their films informative, rather than lecturing, and using graphics, such as had been used by Disney. We were than shown some examples of the films Michael mentioned, the most interesting being one called ‘Don’t be a sucker’. This illustrated ways in which people can be taken in by clever methods, but when it showed a speaker attacking blacks and ‘foreigners’, his audience realised that he was referring to the Jews, and turned away from his ideas. All in all, a most interesting evening. Our final meeting for this session will be on Tuesday 30 April at 7.45 pm at Ralli Hall, when our speaker will be Lyn Julius, from the London School of Jewish Studies, who will speak about her recent book, ‘Uprooted – How 3000 years of Jewish Civilisation in the Arab World Vanished Overnight’. This should be another fascinating talk, and will be preceded by a short AGM of the branch. All are welcome to join us; free for members, season ticket holders and students, £5 for very welcome visitors, to include light refreshments after the talk and question period. I must start this review by thanking Rick Friend for introducing me to this story. What a worthwhile read! I knew nothing about Edgardo Mortara, the main character in this book. The author spins a tale to take the reader through the amazing twists and turns of Edgardo’s life. Edgardo is a six-year old Jewish boy who lives in Bologna with his family. Due to one incident, he is abducted by the Catholic Church to be reared as a true Christian. This is 1858 in pre-unified Italy, where the Pope was all powerful and there was virulent antisemitism. Pope Pius IX adopts Edgardo and gives him a privileged childhood, grooming him to become a priest. He is paraded as a converted Jew, even being taken into the Rome Ghetto, the description of which is heart breaking. His parents travel down every avenue to bring him back into the family. They are told by the church and Edgardo, that he can only go back if they convert to Christianity. This they cannot do. They are prevented from seeing him and are desperate to get help. The French, British and US governments send envoys, to no avail. Particularly interesting is the account of Sir Moses Montefiore’s trip to Rome and the Vatican. With the Unification of Italy in 1861, the political balance shifts. Edgardo is sent to Austria and then France, where he is ordained, becoming Father Mortara or Brother Pius. Taking this name is his way of honouring his adoptive father. We learn Edgardo’s story through the device of a fictional novice monk, Raoul. He is given the task of looking after the ageing Father Mortara in a Priory near Liège, Belgium. It is now 1939, another period of political turmoil. Raoul sees a parallel between himself and Edgardo, both leaving their parents at a young age. He is deeply moved by the old man’s story. This book engaged me from the start. It is a page-turner, transporting the reader between mid- nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is so poignant. I keep asking myself why I did not know about this. It gives a history lesson without being heavy- handed. The author brings these periods of great change to life, with all the sights, smells and emotions of the time. Almost 90% of the story of Edgardo Mortara’s life and events are based on fact. Rick Friend discovered a small article about baptism in the Jewish Chronicle in 1980. This led him to research more evidence, leading to the writing of this book. The information about Sir Moses Montefiore comes from his own diaries. I am so glad I read this book and would recommend it for anyone interested in social, political and Jewish history. 16 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 17 “Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord”: Leviticus 19/16 by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer I feel it incumbent upon myself to address a subject which, And now, allow me to state my position unequivocally so unfortunately, has become ever more relevant and closer that there is absolutely no ambiguity: anybody who is privy to home. I beg your indulgence and I beg your pardon in to information regarding any sort of paedophilic behaviour advance if I touch upon sensitive issues that may cause should report it forthwith to the police, whose special discomfort to some. However, as a Community Rabbi I branches are adequately trained in the investigation of would like to clarify my position and perspective on certain such matters. For often the twisted mind of a paedophile topics that are unfortunately also prevalent within certain is cunning and highly persuasive, covering up their tracks religious circles. and destroying evidence, living split personality lifestyles The subject is that of paedophilia and let me clarify for and going by various aliases. those who are not aware. More often than not, paedophile We cannot eradicate this scourge from humanity, but we perpetrators are not (as is often imagined) austere can and we must protect children whenever confronted men on the edge of society running around in long rain with potential physical and psychological molestation, coats attempting to lure little children into their web of sexual or otherwise. We do expect higher standards of perversion. Oh no, some of these culprits live among us, behaviour from those who espouse Torah values, from lay sometimes dressed as observant Jews with Yarmulke and people who strive for a moral code as outlined in the Torah Tzitzit, praying three times a day and often fathers to large and certainly from the Rabbinate... unless of course they families with a doting wife by their side. Their crimes are themselves have something to hide. nothing new and the phenomenon known as “grooming” is not a novel one. What is particularly shocking however (and I speak with authority, for I am privy to official court Wishing you all a Kasher LePesach and Chag Sameach in advance. transcripts) is that these despicable individuals, who are often unrepentant, are often protected by certain Community leaders who go by the title of Rabbi and even Dayan. Pesach Information Thursday April 18th: • Bedikat Chametz(Searching for the Chametz): 20:36 hrs These spiritual leaders hide behind their mercurial minds and façades of piety to sit tight in the belief that they will be able to ride the turbulent waves of time until things ‘blow over’ so that their Synagogue and Community does not fall into disrepute. Well, let me tell you that for the victims of these acts of molestation, which often spans over several years, who have had their youthful innocence Friday April 19th: • Finish eating Chametz before: 10:38 hrs • Sell and burn Chametz before: 11:49 hrs • Candle lighting: 19:44 hrs • Sunset(Shkiah): 20:02 hrs • Nightfall (Tzeit HaChochavim): 20:38 hrs - Kiddush for first night Seder! robbed for all time, often brutally, there is no such thing as ‘blowing over’. They carry their scars, their angst, their pain, their sense of treachery, their dysfunction, their cynicism, their destruction of faith and much more, for many years and often a lifetime. It affects future relationships and families for generations. Shabbat/Yom Tov - April 20th: • Latest Shema: 09:25 hrs • Latest Schacharit: 10:37 hrs • Sunset(Shkiah): 20:03 hrs • Candle lighting after: 20:57 hrs - Kiddush for second night Seder (Havdalah to be included within!) What I am particularly deeply sad to see is that the Sunday/Yom Tov - April 21st: Rabbinical establishment still, in 2019, hides behind walls • Latest Shema: 09:24 hrs of silence and cowardly whitewashing. These crimes • Latest Schacharit:10:36 hrs should be called out by name and the perpetrators • Sunset(Shkiah): 20:05 hrs brought to justice. It is not good enough for Rabbanim or • Holiday Ends: 20:59 hrs Dayanim to simply resign behind a guise of righteousness when in fact they have blood on their hands for effectively ‘aiding and abetting’ these despicable crimes against Thursday April 25th: • Candle Lighting: 19:54 hrs • Sunset (Shkiah): 20:12 hrs vulnerable children by covering up and covering for guilty individuals who often abscond to Israeli jails for a few years (sometimes on a plea bargain with the Israeli authorities so that their prolonged criminal activity in the UK goes unnoticed) only then to return and be allowed free access to children once again. The governing body of these ‘so called’ Rabbinical Leaders should take pride in the public shaming of these men of the Rabbinical cloth to humiliate them globally and strip them of their title for posterity. Confusing and obscure articles in the Jewish press of neutral content simply does not suffice. Friday/Yom Tov - April 26th • Latest Shema: 09:19 hrs • Latest Shacharit: 10:32 hrs • Candle Lighting: 19:55 hrs • Sunset (Shkiah): 20:13 hrs Shabbat/Yom Tov - April 27th • Latest Shema: 09: 18hrs • Latest Shacharit: 10:31 hrs • Sunset (Shkiah): 20:15 hrs • Shabbat/Yom Tov Ends: 21:10 hrs issue 295 | april 2019 16 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 17 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Pesach: Let’s raise our glasses to human courage by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah This year, Pesach begins on the evening of 19 April with the Seder. The centrepiece of the Seder is the telling of the tale of the Exodus related in the Haggadah that features several ‘fours’: four questions asked by the youngest child, four types of children, and of course, four cups of wine. Traditionally, the four cups are related to the four promises of redemption set out majestically near the beginning of parashat Va-eira in the context of the concluding part of Moses’ encounter with the Eternal at the burning bush. We read (Exodus 6:6-7a): ‘Say to the Israelites: I am the Eternal, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians (first promise), and I will deliver you from their bondage (second), and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgements (third), and I will take you to be my people and I will be your God’ (fourth). The Eternal is the hero of the Haggadah, where we find no mention of the three sibling human leaders of the Exodus: Miriam, Aaron and Moses. But the Torah makes it clear that the liberation of the slaves involved a crucial human component. First, at the beginning of the Exodus story, the midwives, Shifrah and Pu’ah, defied Pharaoh’s genocidal decree against the new-born baby boys of the Hebrews, and saved their lives (Sh’mot, Ex. 1:15-21). issue 295 | april 2019 Next, a mother and sister – unnamed in the story – saved the life of one particular baby by making a water-proof basket and placing it in the reeds of the river. More than this, when Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket and the baby, the baby’s sister arranged with her that the baby’s mother would be his wet-nurse. The baby was adopted by the Princess, who named him Moses (Ex. 2:1-10). The sister, of course, was Miriam. The succession of Divine plagues did their work, but significantly, the Israelites learnt that to avoid the final plague, the death of the firstborn, they had to daub the door-posts and lintel of their houses with the blood of a lamb, so that the Eternal would ‘pass over’ them (Bo, Ex. 1-13). Hence the festival is called Pesach, ‘Passover’. By daubing the blood, the slaves demonstrated their readiness for liberation. Finally, they made a dash for liberation so swift there was no time for their dough to rise (Ex. 12:37-39) – which is the story behind the defining ritual of the festival: the eating of matzah, unleavened bread. So: Four human acts of redemption. This year, as we raise our glasses to drink the four cups, let us dedicate each one in turn to remembrance of the human courage that contributed to our ancestors’ deliverance. Chag Samei’ach! Events@BHPS Communal Seder – Friday 19 April Reserve early as we always have a full house! Doors open 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm start. Members £25- Under 16s accompanied by Members – Free. Non-Members and Friends £35.00 - Under 16s accompanied by non-Members: £10. Reserve by Tuesday 11 April including payment! Contact Sarah Winstone: 01273 501604 or 07841 488620 or sarah.winstone@ ntlworld.com. Payment can be made by cheque made payable to “BHPS” or by bank payment to Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, Sort Code 40-25-03, Account Number 01593870 with the Reference: Seder Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. 12 April: ‘The Lost Jews of Kastoria, Greece’ Betty Skolnick. DVD with introduction, questions and discussion. All items available to purchase on the day together with tea, cake and beautiful cards. People’s Campaign to get a disabled toilet at Old Shoreham Road Cemetery North There will be a short informal meeting at 3.00 pm Monday 1 April at BHPS where interested parties, including representatives from the Reform Synagogue, a local councillor and possibly a representative from Brighton and Hove Council Bereavement Service, will meet to discuss the way forward to remedy this discrimination against disabled people wishing to visit the cemetery. This initiative is organised by BHPS under the guidance of Frida Gustafsson, Co-ordinator of CitizensUK, Brighton and Hove. For further information please contact Michael Austin at roag6b@ btinternet.com Brighton Youth Orchestra String Ensemble The Youth Orchestra will perform at BHPS on the evening of Sunday 30 June. Programme: Bach’s Concerto for 3 Violins, Pastoral Suite’ by Avril Coleridge Taylor, 5 Greek Dances by Nikos Skalkottas. More details to follow. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli for those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. Classes are held at 2.15-3.45 pm on Shabbat after the Access to Hebrew class. 6 April: Pesach in the Torah 13 April: The Haggadah and the Seder 20 April: Omer Period I and Yom Ha-Sho’ah 27 April: Omer Period II Yom Ha-Atzma’ut and Lag Ba-Omer Please note no classes on 4 May. Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli is held on Shabbat afternoons, 1.00-2.00 pm. Classes are open to students of all levels. To join, please contact the synagogue. Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11 am – 4 pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or by ringing 01273 737223. 18 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 19 BrightonReform Nashir – Let us sing in prayer by Jason Lever “Music arouses emotions... it is the melodies, the repetitions created through music that enables us to leave our everyday stressful life and enter the realm of Utopia.” (Eszter Susan). We like to think of members and visitors coming into our synagogue as experiencing, if not quite Utopia, at least a warm sanctuary in which our shirata are nechmata. When songs in our services are true comforts and praise which help make sense of our prayers. We have embarked on a Nashir (let us sing) initiative, a new participatory and more engaging musical approach. Some new tunes or different arrangements during Shacharit are coming in alongside popular, regular ones. Why? Because we want to make our Shabbat services more engaging and uplifting for current and new members, based around the strengths of our excellent Rabbi Andrea, choir and growing team of lay readers. This is evolution not revolution. It’s in the spirit of gradual change that we’ve made musically in recent years, which the congregation has embraced. For example, we open the ark every week for Anim Zemirot led by Cheder children. And how many other Reform synagogues have the Torah portion leyened, musically, every week by Rabbi, Steve Field, Roger Berlin, and others like me, not to mention some of our Bar/Bat Mitzvah students learning the ropes (or should I say tropes!)? We already have much singing in Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday nights, including a monthly Kolot (voices) service with musical instruments when we also daven the Amidah silently. This is alongside fully egalitarian services and great work through our thriving Cheder and Netzer Youth activities to involve the children and young people in leading parts of services and in bringing in some of their tunes, such as for the Ma Tovu or Shema, into main services. Whilst studying at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem last year, I had the privilege of trying out various Erev Shabbat services. The two most popular were also the most different. Yet had two major features in common – the music and 100-120 people there every week. There was the most amazing ruach (spirit) at Raz’s minyan, an Orthodox verging on Hassidic service with twenty-minute rendering and conga dancing of L’Chai Dodi. Down the road, with a woman Rabbi leading the Nava Tehila ensemble of musicians, there were queues out of the door 15 minutes before the service of four generations of progressive Jerusalemites. So, at BHRS, come and see the journey we’re on in trying out more “joinable in” melodies, providing musical variety within a familiar structure. As Sioned Vos, our choir leader says, the whole point is that it’s not “singers” - it’s everyone! There’s a commitment to the enjoyment of the youngest to the oldest of our community, through the spirit of Nashir in our services. Jason Lever is shaliach tzibbur during Rabbi Andrea’s sabbatical. issue 295 | april 2019 Bulletin Board – April Fridays Kuddle Up Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 am Friday 5 Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 6 The ‘Z’ Word with Rabbi, 9.00 am (*) Shabbat Doroteinu & Shabbaton, 10.30 am Sunday 7 Cheder Last Day of Term, 9.50 am Helping Hands Community Tea, 2.30 pm Saturday 13 Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Friday 19 Erev Pesach Saturday 20 First Day Pesach Service, 10.30 am Shabbat Yeladim, 10.30 am 2nd Night Communal Seder, 6.30 pm Friday 26 7th Day Pesach Service, 10.30 am Saturday 27 Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Sunday 28 Cheder New Term (starts with Mimouna), 9.50 am (*) Please book your place by calling the Shul Office The diary is subject to change. 18 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 19 Pesach – This You Call Freedom? by Rabbi Hershel Rader There is no festival more rigorous, both in its preparation The same applies to freedom. The Israelites may have and execution, than Pesach. The cleaning, changing over escaped from their Egyptian bondage but liberty does not to Pesach dishes, making sure we have everything required equate with escape; rather it is an opportunity to reshape our for the Seder and the subsequent eight days can be taxing lives. In the case of the Israelites they were no longer ‘slaves and stressful. Yet when we think of freedom, we usually think to Pharaoh in Egypt’ but became dedicated to a higher in terms of being free of care, worry and the burdens of life. purpose. As Moses said to Pharaoh “the G-d of the Hebrews Pesach seems to contradict this with its laws on banishing has sent me to you saying ‘send out My people that they every crumb of leaven from every nook and cranny of our may serve Me in the wilderness’”. The details of our Pesach home and then the requirement to eat precise amounts of preparation and observance symbolise the rigors of everyday Matza and drink a certain measure of wine with each of the life which, if viewed in the proper way become elevated to a ‘four cups’. Strictly speaking — without eating and drinking form of divine service. In the words of King Solomon ‘Know the specified amounts, we have not really celebrated the Him in all your ways’ (Proverbs 3:6). If we appreciate the ‘soul’ Seder. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to celebrate freedom of Pesach the physical practicalities become more meaningful with a more relaxing festival? and, relative to the extent of that appreciation, less arduous. I read recently of a fascinating study, reported in the Wall ‘In every generation a person must view themselves as Street Journal. People who work under high pressure though they had left Egypt’. Egypt symbolises a situation conditions will often take time off to get away from it all, in which we are restricted; freedom is opportunity. May relax and ‘decompress’. This, common wisdom assumes, this coming Pesach inspire us to make the most of our is the way to alleviate the cumulative effects of stress. Alas, opportunities for a higher purpose. This will obviously require the study’s findings indicate that a cycle of intense stress effort and exertion but, ultimately, will be infinitely rewarding. followed by complete relaxation does nothing to counter the negative physical and mental health effects of stress. The only thing that really helps is learning to respond in effective ways to stress-inducing situations as they arise. Relaxation is not what heals stress but reshaping our day-to-day behaviour in a way that makes for a less stressful life. We cannot combat stress by escaping from it but by learning how to deal with the situations which create it. Communal Seder Pesach We will be holding our Communal Seder on Friday 19 April in the Mark Luck Hall. The Seder will feature a beautiful meal including a fish starter and a meat main course served with red and white wine. Vegetarian option available. We are holding the price at £12.50. Final booking date Sunday April 14th. For further details please contact the Shul office on 01273 888 855 or office@bhhc-shul.org All welcome - irrespective of synagogue affiliation! Planning Application - Status Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation is pleased to have received planning permission for our redevelopment. It has taken a long time and a lot of endeavour to get to this stage. We are immensely grateful for the support we have received from the Bloom Foundation as well as from our members, the wider community and the professional teams. This is an important milestone and we are very excited but we recognise there is more hard work necessary The front and back of Purim to realise our redevelopment. issue 295 | april 2019 20 What’s on: April 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Please note that our next issue will be May 2019 Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 20 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah EVENTS IN APRIL Wednesday 3 Jewish School Meeting at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 7.30 pm Sussex Jewish Outreach with guest speaker on the story of Israel Zangwill and his wife. East Preston venue. Contact: nick@ sussexoutreach.com Thursday 4 JACS with guest speaker Peter Hill ‘A tale of two cities – Tallin and Venice’. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 2.00 – 4.00 pm. £3.00 to include refreshments Sunday 7 Helping Hands Community Tea at AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30 – 4.30 pm Monday 8 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the May 2019 issue. Please send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to: editor@sjn.org.uk or sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com Sunday 14 Ralli Hall & Sussex Jewish Film Club Special Evening showing the film ‘The Best of Men’ – the story of Ludwig Guttman and the history of the Paralympic Games. RH members free/ non-members £4.00. In addition, enjoy Salt Beef sandwiches (& vegetarian options) - Food (including refreshments) £10.00 Wednesday 17 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Seaford Golf Club. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at ashley@sportscastnet.com Tuesday 30 Jewish Historical Society, Sussex Branch. Guest speaker Lyn Julius ‘How 3000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight’ at. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.45 pm. Members free. Visitors £5.00. Contact amcrook321@gmail.com or g.gould915@btinternet.com IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. issue 295 | april 2019 REGULAR ACTIVITIES Please cancelled. note Please that during check the with Pesach the event week, organisation. some events may be Fri 5 7.21 pm Sat 6 8.31 pm Fri 12 7.32 pm Sat 13 8.44 pm Fri 19 7.44 pm Sat 20 8.57 pm Fri 26 7.55 pm Sat 27 9.10 pm SPECIAL DATES Friday 19 – Erev Pesach: Fast of Firstborn: First Seder Night: Bank Holiday Eat Chametz until 10.38 am: Burn Chametz by 11.49 am Saturday 20 – First Day Pesach: Prayer for Dew: Second Seder Night Monday 22 – Bank Holiday Saturday 27 – Eighth Day Pesach: Yizkor: Yom Tov & Shabbat end 9.10 pm Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm - 9.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune @ Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall. Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 -
Issue 294
March 2019
1 WHAT’S INSIDE.... HMD | WORDS AND PICTURES | WHAT’S ON | AND MORE MARCH 2019 • ADAR I – ADAR II 5779 • ISSUE 294 2 Pause for Thought 3 February is the shortest month. February is our shortest issue. February is our shortest Pause for Thought. Are we coming up short? Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Board provides affordable Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. flat suitable for a couple. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of water; use of garden; television and telephone points. garden; television and telephone points. For further information For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com Cover: Purim Celebration photo by © Evgenia Lysakov EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Dr Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of COMMUNAL DIARY sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER IMAGE © Evgenia Lysakov the Jewish community across the region. PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Gemini Studio SUBMISSION DEADLINE (INCLUDING FLYERS) FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 MARCH 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 PURIM CELEBRATIONS Photograph by Evgenia Lysakov 2 PAUSE FOR THOUGHT A short moment of reflection for a short month 6 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY, IN RETROSPECT by Winston Pickett REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news and stories from across the county 7 CULTURE 12 WHAT’S ON – MARCH Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 8 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 9 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 10 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 11 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: £40 per Flyer BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Births Mazel tov to Maggie and Arthur Oppenheimer who celebrate the arrival of their first granddaughter Sadie Rae Oppenheimer – 12th January. Her parents, Lucy and David Oppenheimer, are delighted and will be very busy on future 12th Januarys celebrating both Sadie’s and her brother Theo’s birthdays. Mazel tov to • Rabbi Pesach and Penina Efune on the birth of three grandchildren in the last couple of months • Rabbi Hershel and Perla Rader on the safe arrival of granddaughter Chaya Mushka Aron Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Muriel Elkin-Rose (90), Paul Samrah and all who have special birthdays this month Bar Mitzvah Mazel tov to Barbara Isaacs and family on the bar mitzvah of her grandson, Oliver, at Holland Road Shul on 16 March Wedding Mazel tov to the Seligman and Goldberg families on the forthcoming wedding of Daniel to Liora on 7 April Special Anniversaries Mazel tov to Jacqui and Larry Curtis on the celebration of their Silver Wedding Anniversary Get Well We wish a refuah sheleima to all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time Deaths We wish Long Life to the family of Stanley Prince z’l Stonesettings The following stonesettings will take place at the Jewish cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton: • The memorial stone in loving memory of Sylvia Hempling will take place on 3 March at 2.00 pm • The memorial stone in loving memory of Celia Shuster will take place on Sunday 10 March 2019 at 2pm ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 Ralli Hall by Maxine Gordon Tickets are selling out fast for our Barn Dance on Sunday 17 March, and there’s not much time left! Book your seats asap for a fabulous afternoon – we have a professional caller to sort out all the right moves, a live band playing your favourite Country and Western songs, plus a Jewish ‘Wild West buffet’ to give us some well-earned nourishment. For those who love the dances from ‘Footloose’, or fancy themselves as the next Bradley Cooper or Dolly Parton, this is for you. We look forward to seeing you at this fun event, dressed up in your best jeans and ginghams. Whilst we’re on the subject of Ralli Hall events, we are very happy to talk to members of the community who have always wanted to run their own club, hobby or service (educational or social with a Jewish theme of course), but they don’t have anywhere to run it. Well, that’s where we can help from our Community Centre. If you have an idea, we can offer you an available, suitable space and work together. Many of our clubs are run by volunteers on a simple arrangement that suits you and more importantly, provides a service to the local Jewish community. We look forward to hearing your ideas and seeing how we can help. Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer March has now arrived, thankfully bringing the lighter nights and hopefully better weather. Purim is on 21 March and we are having a joint Purim Party in conjunction with Rabbi Efune; always great fun and not to be missed. I know many people think, “ooh I am not going to the Lunch and Social Club as this is for old people”. I can assure you that we are all very young at heart and not “old people”. Our lunches are so good that one of our members even called them ‘ecstasy’. Why not come in and join us for a lovely three course kosher meal (unsupervised). It saves all the cooking and washing up and is delicious. We are planning to have an afternoon quiz in the near future and on 30 May, Doris Levinson is coming to give us a talk on her life, which we are looking forward to. We are planning for other interesting speakers on a Thursday afternoon. I will keep you all updated with the dates. We were very glad to welcome Rabbi Sam at the Lunch Club on a Tuesday. Our members enjoyed talking to the Rabbi and he played a few tunes on the piano which delighted us all. We look forward to his next visit. We recently had a very enjoyable visit from Barry Toberman, a journalist from The Jewish Chronicle. He was very interested in all the things we do at the Lunch Club. Hopefully you will see a write-up about us and the Jewish community in Brighton. Two of our dedicated volunteers have decided to go into semi- retirement and we give a big thanks to Shirley Burke and Sheila Hart for all their hard work over many years and we will still be calling on them. We are not letting them leave us completely. On a happy note, we welcome Suzanne Collins, who previously ran the Lunch Club and has now joined us as a volunteer on a Tuesday. We are all delighted to have her back. If you enjoy playing Bridge or Kalooki, please join us on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon from 1.45pm and you can also have a nice wee cup of tea and biscuits or maybe even cake. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Tel: 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com 4 Social Events 5 ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 An evening not to be missed! SALT BEEF SANDWICHES ON RYE*, LATKES AND SUNDAY APRIL 14th Doors Film starts open 6.30pm 7.30pm CUCUMBERS, REFRESHMENTS AND FEATURE FILM * With vegetarian option also available * Locally sourced Kosher catering (unsupervised) A WWII WWII FILM EVENTS JEWISH BASED HERO AND ON REAL A REAL on Call 01273 Ralli 202254 Hall FILM: FOOD: Film £10 free pp for including Ralli Hall refreshments. members OR £4 per person for non-members. rallihallcentre@gmail.com BOOKINGS: Food bookings close Sunday March 31st. Barn Dance Sunday 17th March 2019 3pm to 7pm ...With a 30 minute break for a ‘Wild West’ hot buffet included Time for something different! Join our Community Barn Dance and have fun to a variety of Line and Country Dances from our Professional Caller playing music from the stage to all your Western favourites. No experience or partners necessary. Tables maximum of 8. Fun for everyone. Ralli Hall Members: £10.00 pp Non Members: £13.00 pp Children under 10 years: £5.00 pp Parking at Hove Station: £2.15 all day Tickets from Ralli Hall: 01273 202254 Email: rallihallcentre@gmail.com Ludwig Guttmann a renowned Jewish German neurosurgeon who fled Nazi Germany in the early days of WWII, takes a position at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1944. Ludwig begins to transform the lives of his patients, paralysed soldiers that have been written-o and who are facing death from neglect. A breakthrough comes when Dr. Guttmann introduces sport into their rehabilitation, a breakthrough that leads to the founding of the Paralympic Games. Starring Eddie Marsan, George Mackay, Rob Brydon, Niamh Cusack, and Richard McCabe * 7th April * 2nd June * 4th August * 6th October * 1st December This will be held at the AJEX Centre at 2.30pm to 4.30pm Donation £3 (inc raffle) If you would like to join us please phone Helping Hands on 01273 747722. Transport can be arranged 6 Sussex and the City 7 Holocaust Memorial Day 2019: ‘Torn from Home’ Encapsulated in East Sussex by Winston Pickett Holocaust Memorial Day in Brighton and Hove was observed with three educational institutions commemorating this year’s theme, ‘Torn From Home’ in the Sussex area on 28 January. At Patcham High School, a packed assembly hall of Year 10 students sat in rapt attention as they heard Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines tell her story as one of the last of 669 refugees to escape the German-annexed Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia before the Nazis ultimately invaded her country. She escaped on a train from Prague on a Kindertransport in May 1939, made possible by the heroic efforts of the late Sir Nicholas Winton. Her account, told in a poised British accent that belied having arrived at Liverpool Station not knowing a word of English at 10 years old, took listeners on a journey that recounted how, via luck, serendipity and good will, the former Milena Fleischmann found herself and her three-year-old sister on a train bound for Holland with only a small valise containing her prized possessions. These included a Czech translation of the British writer Kenneth Graham’s Wind In The Willows, which she displayed during her talk. Despite her ordeal, Lady Milena described herself as ‘one of the lucky ones’, a term she used to describe her own survival and ultimate reunification with her parents, who also escaped Nazi Europe, as well as her own good fortune at having been able to retain her knowledge of Czech, thus enabling her to become an accomplished translator and interpreter later in life. It is this appreciation, she said, that fires her determination at 90 years old to tell the story of the Czech Kindertransport to generations throughout Europe and the UK, with a travel schedule which would be exacting for someone half her age. Brighton & Hove Holocaust Education Project had also helped co-ordinate the Patcham High event with RE instructor Hannah Kinchin-Frost. They arranged for HEP member Bryan Huberman, to tell of his late father, Alfred Huberman’s story, of death camp survival and rescue, to an assembly, including HEP members, at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Rottingdean. The members joined Brighton College’s HMD event later the same day to hear Barbara Winton’s father’s story which dovetailed with Bryan Huberman’s on a personal- historical level. ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 Barbara Winton, daughter of the late Sir Nicholas Winton and a personal friend of Lady Milena – who had been one of the surprise guests on the famous episode of BBC’s This is Your Life, when Winton was first reunited with the adult children he had saved during the Czech Kindertransport – retraced her father’s story to a packed assembly hall, offering new perspectives which painted his efforts in stark relief. In December 1938 Nicholas Winton travelled to Prague, where, under his own initiative, he spearheaded a Czech- based rescue operation mirroring the British government’s Kindertransport programme in an operation under the auspices of the Central British Fund for German Jewry. Speaking to the Brighton College students, which included invited City Councillors and members of the Sussex Jewish Representative Council, Barbara Winton explained that, contrary to popular media accounts, her father had never been ‘reluctant’ to tell the story of his efforts, even citing them on his curriculum vitae. It was only through the efforts of Holocaust historian Dr Elisabeth Maxwell, through whom Sir Nicholas’s Kindertransport ‘scrapbook’ from 1939, replete with photographs and destinations of the rescued children, was publicised. This lead to the public disclosure, decades later, of Winton’s efforts to locate sponsors and fund his operation’s rescue programme. All was recounted in Barbara Winton’s biography of her father, If It’s Not Impossible... “If there was any motto which encapsulated Nicholas Winton’s life,” she said, “that was it.” Nael Abdallah, a L6th pupil commented about the talk: “I really enjoyed the way in which the speaker explained not only the specific events and atrocities of the Holocaust but also allowed the audience to question their views about how our society treats refugees. Additionally, she urged us to draw our own conclusions, through the life stories of her father and his amazing work organising the Kindertransport, to contemplate how we could now make a difference and help those in the greatest need.” 6 Culture 7 Jewish Historical Society of England JACS Sussex Branch by Janice Greenwood by Godfrey R Gould Hello, it’s me again, ex-Hon. Secretary of JACS, reminding you that we are still going In the seventeenth century, over 100 years and getting stronger. We have re-located to after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Ralli Hall, meeting on the first Thursday of Conversos and some practising Jews were each month. writing epic poetry in Spanish about heroic figures from the Old Testament. Subjects included the Maccabees, King David, Job, Queen Esther and Samson. The text often included many subliminal messages, despite being a dangerous thing to do in the days of the Inquisition. However, the form of the text enabled writers such as Miguel de Silveira “El Macabeo” (Rouen) ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 Shirley Jaffe, our Chair Person, has arranged an excellent programme for the next few months. • On 7 March David Barnett will be telling us “The History of Lyons Cornerhouse”. David comes all the way from Billericay to speak to us and we are pleased to welcome him back. and Jacob Uziel “David: poema heroica” • On 4 April Peter Hill, local ex-chemist, (Venice) to write such pieces without will tell us “A Tale of Two Cities - Tallin attracting the attention of the religious and Venice”. Peter is another excellent authorities. Although written in Spanish speaker who has spoken to us before. they were published mainly in France but also in Venice (then independent) and Naples (then a Spanish colony). • On 2 May Sir Andrew Bowden MBE will tell us of his career in politics. Sir Andrew was the Conservative MP for All this, and more, was brilliantly Brighton some time ago. expounded to a fascinated audience of the Sussex Branch of the Jewish Historical Society at Ralli Hall on 29 January by Imogen Choi, Associate Professor of Spanish and Queen Sofia Fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford. Members Shirley really has scooped la crème de la crème with this trio. Don’t forget, first Thursday of the month, Ralli Hall, 2.00 – 4.00 pm, £3.00, refreshments included. See you there. PUSH by Godfrey R Gould On 27 May 1940, the Kingdom of Belgium capitulated to the invading Germans. By 1942, the closing of Jewish businesses and the rounding up of all Belgian Jews had started. In that year, 11-year-old Simon Gronowski, his mother, Chana and his older sister, Ita, were taken, as they were eating breakfast, to a transit camp at Mechelem. His father, Leon, was in hospital and managed to survive the war only to die of a broken heart shortly after the Allied victory. But shortly after their arrest Simon and his family were placed on the 20th transport to leave Mechelem for their final journey to Auschwitz. Quite remarkably the train was ambushed by partisans and 233 people tried to escape, of whom 26 were shot and 89 were recaptured, but 118 managed to escape. As the door of their cattle truck was forced open Simon’s mother pushed him out of the train. He never saw his mother or his sister again. But, quite remarkably, a non-Jewish Belgian policeman, Jan Aerts, helped Simon to get to Brussels where he somehow managed to survive in hiding, often with his father, until they were liberated. This amazing real-life drama was the inspiration for a short one act opera by Howard Moody, and a wonderful work it is, too. Commissioned by Glyndebourne and the Battle Festival it has been performed at Glyndebourne, Chichester Cathedral and St Paul’s Church, Chichester, by soloists from the University of Chichester and Chichester Schools and Community choirs. And in March this year it will be performed at La Monnaie in Brussels. On Monday 28 January I was privileged to attend a performance of this emotional opera at the State Apartments, the Speakers House, House of Commons, in the presence of the Speaker, the Mayor and Mayoress of Chichester, Simon Gronowski himself and other dignitaries, at the invitation of Gillian Keegan, MP for Chichester. and visitors were delighted to be joined by many members of Imogen’s own family through four generations from her grandmother, Liz Waring, to her own two- month old son. This was a new subject to everybody, made a delight by a brilliant and remarkably young speaker. Our next meeting will be an extra event as part of Jewish History Month, a celebration of Jews in British Screen and Television. At a joint session with the Sussex Jewish Film Club, local film maker Phil Grabsky will talk on “35 Years in Film Making”. It will take place at Ralli Hall on Sunday 10 March commencing with light refreshments at 7.30pm, the presentation to start at 8.00pm, followed by a period for questions. Our normal March meeting will be on the 26th when Dr Michael Jolles will speak on “The Jews of Hastings and St Leonards”. It will start at 7.45pm at Ralli Hall, free for members, season ticket holders and students, £5 for very welcome visitors, to include light refreshments after the talk and question period. A determined effort has been made by the Sussex Jewish Representative Council to bring this piece to Hove. Unfortunately, through no fault of the Council, their efforts were frustrated. Maybe, at some time in the future, circumstances might change and we will be able to see PUSH here. In the meantime, if you get the opportunity to see this opera take it. You will not be disappointed. S with on Sunday 23rd June at 2.30pm for tea AVE THE D ATE 8 9 Equality ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org or Injustice? by Rabbi Hershel RaderIn a world that seeks equality, is it possible for equality to equal injustice? The first Shabbat this month, incidentally Shabbat UK, is Shabbat Parshat Shekalim. When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, each Jew contributed an annual half-shekel to the Our Weekly Shiurim Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Temple. As the Torah tells us (Exodus 30:15) ‘the rich shall not give more nor the poor less’. As far as this contribution was concerned there was total equality. The money raised Wednesdays, 12.30-1.30 pm. Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. was used primarily to fund the Temple services, as well as a variety of other spiritual necessities. This annual tax, known as the Machatzit Hashekel, was due on the 1st of Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur. (no charge). Nissan. One month earlier, on the 1st of Adar, the courts Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah began posting reminders about this Biblical obligation. In commemoration of this we have a Maftir, read from a second Sefer Torah, relating to the half-shekel and a Haftorah which continues on the same theme, discussing the efforts of King (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). Jehoash to earmark communal funds for the upkeep of the first Temple. Parshat Shekalim is the first of four special readings preceding the festival of Pesach. Teaching about this a few months ago, I was confronted with the following question, ‘Why should everyone give the same amount? Surely the rich should give more than the poor and bear a greater part of the communal burden? Isn’t this BHHC Events to April 2019 an injustice; the wealthy getting away with a relatively small contribution while those less well-off are forced to struggle every year?’ Catered Lunch & Learn Monthly on Wednesdays at 12.15 pm 6 March, 3 April In truth, nearly all the contributions to the sanctuary, as well as contributions to the poor, Kohanim and Levites, were Featuring a three-course lunch – cost £7.50 according to an individual’s means. For example, when it came the time to build a Sanctuary in the wilderness Moshe was given a list of materials needed and instructed to tell the Israelites that ‘every man whose heart motivates him’ Monthly Friday Night Dinners 15 March at 7.00 pm (provisional time) Cost £15.00 - Spaces limited (Exodus 25:2) should give. There was no minimum obligation; not even an obligation for everyone to give. To give or not to give, as well as how much to give was left to the individual. Pesach Seder Friday 19 April Why was the half-shekel different? Please call the shul office 01273 888855 to book or for The half-shekel offering towards the Temple – the spiritual focus of the Jewish people where worship took place further information on behalf of the entire people - represented each Jew’s relationship with G-d. The equality of the contribution emphasised the equality of the contributors in that relationship. It teaches us that no Jew should feel superior or inferior because of their circumstances. If we are all ‘created equal’ then we should all, at some point, take an equal part in our relationship with our Creator. Want to save money on your Home / It is also important to take into account the great privilege of contributing to the Temple and its services. When we realise its importance and the honour we have in participating, it Business Expenses with a Which? Recommended supplier? ceases to be a burden. Why a half-shekel? Why not a whole Shekel? The half-shekel reminds us of our relationship with G-d, without Him we are only a fraction – a half. Similarly, for G-d to fulfil His goal in creation He requires our input – to use the Contact David Schaverien Tel: 01273 779001 Email: theschav@uwclub.net world He creates for a good and higher purpose making it into a global sanctuary. By doing this we are His partners in creation – two halves making a whole. 8 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 9 Essential Background to ‘Purim’ by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Based upon the writings in Ladino of Rabbi Raphael Chiyya This prophecy was not only of concern to the Jews. The Pontremoli – Izmir; 1825 -1885. gentile nations feared the Jewish God and could not rest It had been one of the most horrible years in Jewish history. The great Temple built by King Solomon lay in ruins; Jews had been scattered to the far corners of the Babylonian Empire. On the 9th of Ab, 3338 (July 16 BCE), the Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies. It was as if God had turned His face away from the Jewish people and had abandoned them to their fate. ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 easy as long as this prophecy hung like the sword of Damocles over their heads. Although they saw the Jews defeated, they still had a superstitious fear of their God. The idea of praying to an invisible God who created the universe was too much for them to take; but if this was the God whom the Jews worshipped, He had to be taken seriously. This was merely the last in a long series of woeful events. Over a hundred years earlier, in 3205 (556 BCE), the Ten Tribes were exiled by Sennaherib. Of the great nation of Israel, only a relatively small remnant remained. The one hope had been the great Temple that had stood in Jerusalem, the symbol of God’s closeness and concern for Nebuchadnezzar reigned for 26 years after the destruction of the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar’s last years brought his total degradation and many kings saw this as a sign of divine punishment for his having destroyed the Jewish Temple. Until the 70 years were up, no Babylonian king could be safe. the Jews. Now even the Temple was in ruins. An outsider Another 23 years passed and in 3387 (374 BCE), would have considered the Jewish people finished. Belshazzar assumed the throne of Babylon. In the One glimmer of hope remained. One of the greatest of all prophets, Jeremiah, had predicted the destruction of the Temple. Only after his dire prophecy had come true did people recognise his true greatness. But he had also given a prophecy of hope. He had said in God’s name, “This whole land shall be a desolation and waste and these third year of his reign, his advisors made an important calculation. It was then the year 3389 (372 BCE). Precisely 70 years had passed since 3319 (442 BCE) when Nebuchadnezzar had assumed the Babylonian throne. Had not Jeremiah said, “these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for 70 years?” The time was obviously over! nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. Belshazzar was overjoyed and made a great banquet. As But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king a sign of his defiance, he ordered that the Temple vessels of Babylon and that nation for their iniquity” (Jeremiah be used for serving. It was at this banquet that the famous 25:11,12). Besides a promise of punishment, there had also “handwriting on the wall” (Daniel 5:5, 25) was seen. been a message of hope: “For thus says God: After seventy Belshazzar was assassinated that night and on the same years are completed, I will consider you and keep my good night Darius attacked Babylon and was victorious. promise to you to bring you back to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10). In a sense, Jeremiah’s first prophecy had been fulfilled. The Babylonian empire had come to an end. Now a new There was much confusion as to the exact meaning power dominated the world scene; the Persian empire. of Jeremiah’s words. Jeremiah uttered his prophecy regarding the seventy years in 3331(430 BCE). A number of important events had happened earlier. In 3319 (442 BCE) Nebuchadnezzar had assumed the throne of Babylon and had defeated Yehoiakim, king of Judea. The The Jews, however, were somewhat discouraged. The prophecy of the 70 years had been fulfilled, but they were still in exile. Perhaps, however, there was hope in Jeremiah’s second prophecy. Jewish state had become a vassal of Babylon (2 Kings Cyrus succeeded his father-in-law, Darius, to the throne 24:1). In 3321(440 BCE), Jeremiah had first predicted the in the year 3390 (371 BCE). The next year, 3391(370 BCE) destruction of the Temple (Jeremiah 25). In 3327(434 BCE), was seen by his advisors as a possible end of the 70 Nebuchadnezzar had exiled king Yekhoniah, along with years predicted by Jeremiah. Jeremiah had predicted the the cream of the Jewish people (2 Kings 24:14,15). Among destruction of the Temple in 3321; it was now 70 years those who had been exiled at this time was Mordechai later. Wanting to escape the divine wrath, he immediately (Esther 2:6). ordered the rebuilding of the Temple! 53 years had already The Jews were very confused as to the meaning of the 70 passed since the Temple had been destroyed. years predicted by Jeremiah. Was he counting from 3319, Before much work could be done on the Temple, Cyrus the year in which Nebuchadnezzar assumed the throne? died and was succeeded by Achashverosh in 3392 (369 Or from 3321, the year in which the 70 years was first BCE). He made the great feast in the third year of his reign mentioned? Or was it from 3327, the first major exile? Or (Esther 1:3). It was thus, during the last years of the exile from 3338, the year of the destruction of the Temple? that the miracle of Purim occurred. 10 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 11 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 March 1144 and 2019 by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Purim begins this year on the evening of 20 March. As airmen, Hitler did not reach these shores. Yet, Britain, too, most of us are aware, this minor post-biblical festival has a hinterland of anti-Jewish persecution, fuelled by familiar celebrates a victory against anti-Semitism and the scheme anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish power. Just a day after of a demagogue, intent on destroying the Jewish minority Purim this year, it will be the anniversary of the first ritual scattered throughout the vast empire of King Achashveirosh. murder libel, which took place at Norwich 875 years ago in There is no external evidence that the particular events described ever happened. Indeed, the Book of Esther reads like a classical ‘once upon a time’ fairy tale. Nevertheless, the story resonates with the reality of the vulnerability of Jewish existence in the diaspora over millennia. And for generations of Jews the happy ending was welcome respite. What fun to get drunk and revel in a revenge fantasy in which the Jewish heroes turn the tables on their enemies. 1144. The historian Cecil Roth wrote: “A boy of 12 or 13, named William, apprenticed to a skinner at Norwich, was found dead on Easter Eve in a wood near the city. According to a story afterwards recounted, he had been enticed away by the Jews on the previous Monday and was crucified by them in a mockery of the Passion after their service in the synagogue, on Wednesday, the second day of the Passover (March 22nd, 1144). This was the first instance in Europe of the infamous Ritual Murder accusation... In this case the And then, a real-life Haman arose in the form of Adolf Hitler. The ‘Thousand-Year Reich’ was defeated after twelve years; but not before six million Jews had been murdered and tens of thousands of Jewish communities destroyed across the continent of Europe. No happy ending for Jewish life in that particular diaspora. essential element of the Blood accusation was lacking, as no suggestion was made the blood was used in the manufacture of the Unleavened Bread or for other ritual purposes” (The Jewish Book of Days, pp. 70-71). Roth also wrote of these accusations continuing ‘down to the present day’. The book was published by Edward Goldston Ltd of London in 1931. Did Roth have any idea of what was to follow? And would Here in Britain, we were at one remove from the horror. he have believed that anti-Semitism would continue to be a Thanks to a narrow strip of water and the courage of British menace in ‘the present day’ of March 2019? Events @ BHPS Cyberquiz - Sunday 10th March 2019 at BHPS 6:45 pm for 7:15 pm The inter-community Cyberquiz is an interactive and fun quiz evening where teams in Brighton compete between themselves and with teams from other Jewish communities across the UK. Make up a table of 6 or come and join with others. Tickets £10 including light supper. Contact the synagogue office info@bhps-online.org or leave a message on 01273-737223. Final Sunday Lecture and Lunch - Sunday 31 March Dr David Jacobson on Herod’s Temple,the most remarkable building of the Roman Empire (20 BC) • 11:30 am - Welcome drink on arrival • 12:00 to 1:00 pm - Lecture • 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm - Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee £22.50 per person. Non-members and their friends welcome Friday 19 April 2019 - Communal Seder Reserve early – as we always have a full house! Doors open 6:.00 pm for 6:30 pm start Members £25 - Under 16s accompanied by Members - Free Non-Members and Friends £35.00 - Under 16s accompanied by non-Members: £10 Reserve and pay by Tuesday 11 April. Contact Sarah Winstone: 01273 501604 or 07841 488620 or sarah. winstone@ntlworld.com Payment can be made by cheque made payable to “BHPS” or by bank payment to: Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, Sort Code: 40-25-03, Account Number: 01593870 with the reference: Seder Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 On 8 March we will welcome Michael Austin who will speak on The Habsburgs and the Jews. At the beginning of the 20th century over 2 million Jews lived in the Habsburg Empire. Who were they, how did they live and where? Musical Events The Joanna McGregor concert, advertised last month, has been postponed. However, on Sunday 30 June, the Brighton Youth Orchestra will give a concert at the synagogue. More details later. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli For those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge, classes are held on Shabbat from 2:15 - 3:45 pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. • 2 March: No class • 9 March Shabbat I: In the Torah & the Halakhah • 16 March Purim • 23 March Shabbat II: Liturgy and rituals • 30 March Shabbat III: Towards a Liberal Jewish approach to ‘keeping Shabbat’ • 6 April Pesach I: Pesach in the Torah Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli Classes are held on Shabbat afternoons from 1.00 to 2.00 pm and are open to students of all levels. To join, please contact the synagogue. Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11.00 am – 4.00 pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. 10 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 11 BrightonReform Not relying on our leaders by Jason Lever In preparing for Parashah Mishpatim, I found a little scrap of appearance of the Lord [which] was like devouring fire on the paper with the following words in capitals from my Grandma’s top of the mount...” Was he not consumed by this awesome big grey typewriter, as the preparations the Israelites made show of power, in the same way as they saw Pharoah’s before receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai: ‘In My Portion the army drowning in the Red Sea? They felt rudderless, bereft. Lord commands Moses to come with Aaron and his two sons They were anxious and afraid. So, they resorted to the and 70 of the Elders of Israel to worship from afar. But only familiar – idol worship. G-d expected their rescue from Egypt Moses, and no other person, should come near to the Lord’. and a wonderful destiny promised them to be reciprocated My barmitzvah portion notes and on the other side, were by responsibility. Obeying the ten and many other civil written my thank you’s for the party and generous presents! ordinances which includes the love of the ger, the stranger The great set up here is that the Israelites were not ready yet for nationhood and so have to begin a forty-year detour through the wilderness before reaching the land of Canaan. Why, when Biblical scholars have estimated this could have (cited no less than 36 times in the Torah) and meaning a resident alien living in their midst. It was, and still is, about recognising the idea of humanity in how you treat a stranger, who’s not part of your own family or tribe. taken just eleven days? Part of the answer I think lies in the This is the fundamental mindset change that G-d wanted the shift that is needed from leadership dependency to self- people of Israel to make in their way of living and thinking responsibility under a set of overarching rules (of Torah). about others, before they were ready to be a nation in the Yes, the people have said several times that they accept the Ten Commandments, but they were still in the mindset of being led by a supreme leader, originally Pharaoh and now in their eyes Moses, who intercedes between them and the Almighty. Just before Moses enters into the cloud, he reads them again “all the words of the Lord” and the people again say “all that the Lord hath spoke will we do”. This becomes a doubly binding covenant by Moses’ sprinkling of the blood over the people. Yet once Moses “went up into the Promised Land. As Jonathan Sacks puts it, ‘care of the stranger is why the Israelites had to experience exile and slavery before they could enter the Promised Land’. By the time of the Revelation, they were still not ready truly to embrace all these mitzvot (in Parashot Yitro and Mishpatim) and so ‘build their own society and state’. What lessons might be there for us today, with fewer convincing, authentic let alone charismatic leaders, in our midst with whom are bound our secular destinies? mount”, where he remained for “forty days and forty nights”, Jason Lever is shaliach tzibbur during Rabbi Andrea’s we all know what happens next ... the Golden Calf. In my sabbatical. interpretation, G-d knows already from the kvetching of the people so far (more food, more water, wouldn’t we be better off back in erez mizraim) that they would take time to evolve from a slave mentality to being ready for nationhood of their own. Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law, made an astute case that Moses needed to set up a tier of judges between him and all the people. That he couldn’t do it all himself. So, led by his brother Aaron, these magistrates were put in charge when Moses went up the mountain. But the Israelites weren’t ready for these normal institutions of a society. All they could see was that Moses disappeared just as they saw “the ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 Bulletin Board - March Weekly Fridays Kuddle Up Toddler Group, 10.30 am Erev Shabbat service, 6.30 pm Saturdays The ‘Z’ Word with Rabbi, 9.00 am Shabbat morning service, 10.30 am Sundays Cheder, 9.50 March Friday 1 6.30pm Shabbat Kolot Saturday 2 10.30am Shabbat Doroteinu & Shabbaton Wednesday 20 6.30pm Erev Purim Service The diary is subject to change. Lets taCk....... Lets study the maor Zionist thinkers & ersonaCities in their own words Because we stiCC have a dream 5 SESSIONS EVERY SATURDAY IN MARCH AT 9PM 12 What’s on: March 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 12 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 1 5.23 pm Sat 2 6.32 pm Fri 8 5.35 pm Sat 9 6.43 pm Fri 15 5.47 pm Sat 16 6.55 pm Fri 22 5.58 pm Sat 23 7.07 pm Fri 29 6.10 pm Sat 30 7.19 pm Mondays • Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 • Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune 8.15 – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel: 01273 321919 • Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion SPECIAL DATES Wednesday 20 Fast of Esther – ends 6.46 pm Thursday 21 Purim Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text: 07834 669181 Friday 22 Shushan Purim Tuesdays EVENTS IN MARCH • Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday, Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove Friday 1 & Saturday 2 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 • Shabbat UK – various community events. Contact Shuls and Chabad • Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club, 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Lubavitch for details. Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall 2 – 10 March • Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery • Jewish Book Week, Kings Place, 90 York Way London N1 9AG T:020 from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment 7520 1490. Lunchtime events at JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road, London with your baby/toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and NW3 6ET T: 020 7433 8988. Info: info@jewishbookweek.com movement Thursday 7 • Painting with Rochelle (JAS), Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. • JACS at Ralli Hall with guest speaker David Barnett on The History of Tel: 07811 601106 Lyons Cornerhouse. David comes all the way from Billericay to speak to us and we are pleased to welcome him back, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm. £3.00, refreshments included. Friday 8 • Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the April 2019 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ • Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 • Israeli Dancing, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Wednesdays Sunday 10 • Jewish History Month: Sussex Jewish Historical Society together with Ralli Hall Jewish Film Club present guest speaker local film maker Phil Grabsky on 35 years in Film Making. Light refreshments at 7.30 pm. Presentation at 8.00 pm to be followed by questions. • Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. JHSE & RH Members free. Visitors donation £5.00. For information, please contact dbresh@icloud.com, amcrook321@gmail.com or g.gould915@btinternet.com Saturday 16 • Sussex Jewish Outreach Shabbat Service & Lunch 10.30 am Quaker Meeting House, Worthing. For details contact Thursdays • Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am-4.30 pm Weekly Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH • JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH nick@sussexoutreach.com • Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Sunday 17 • Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome • Ralli Hall Barn Dance 3.00 pm – 7.00 pm, including ‘Wild West’ hot - 8.15 - 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 buffet. RH Members £10.00, non-members £13.00, children under 10 £5.00. Tickets from 01273 303354 or email rallihallcentre@gmail.com Fridays Tuesday 26 • Jewish Historical Society of England, Sussex Branch present guest • Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar (during term time) speaker Michael Jolles on The Jews of Hastings and St Leonards at • Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.30 pm. Members free. Visitors £5.00. Contact amcrook321@gmail.com or g.gould915@btinternet.com WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle • Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON 01323 725650. The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM ROAD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF Saturdays • Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation, Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or Please note that our next issue will be April 2019 07739 082538. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 8th March 2019 • Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 ISSUE 294 | MARCH 2019 -
Issue 293
February 2019
O O B | K C A R T N E T A E B E H T F F O S W E J E R O M | S N O I E RO M 3 9 2 E U S S I • 9 7 7 5 I R A D A – T A V E H S • 9 1 0 2 Y R A U R B E F . ... T C D U N D A | O R N P O E T D I S A S ’ N I T H S A ’ T P H A O H W T W 2 Community Spotlight Love Notes from Top Hat Productions by Wendy Lovegrove 2019 has seen the third Top Hat production at Ralli Hall. This year our show ‘Love Notes’ was all about love. We have tried to include many aspects of love that we experience as human beings, as well as how we feel when love just isn’t enough. As usual, it’s been a pleasure to bring together different groups of people in our community and we have Top Hat Productions Presents valued hugely their input in the final outcome of this year’s ‘Love Notes’ performance. As in prior productions, we have charted a featuring lots of lovely songs from the shows journey through song and, of course, from the moment of and the charts inception it has been its own journey. I think we are so lucky to at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove have so much talent in our community and that extends way 12th January 2019 at 7.30 pm beyond the people you see on stage. If you came to our show, 13th January at 2.30 pm we hope you enjoyed it and will come again another time. Tickets £10 Adults £6 for under 12s. Oh, what a night! Hats off to Top Hat Productions! by Liz Posner Contact Laura on 01273 722173. We laughed and applauded till our hands were sore as we were entertained by a very talented motley crew. Such great ideas, such melodic singing and I am unable to think of an adequate adjective for the dancing. All the ladies looked and sounded great, and the gentlemen, when they could be serious, could certainly sing. As for the Cover: The Top Hats ‘Love Notes’ cast. Photo by Sophie Sheinwald SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. wigs and head coverings, well, words fail me. So, with thanks to the tuneful musicians, the balcony lighting team, the costumier, dresser, all on stage or behind it. It is such a pity that we have to wait a year to see you all again in what I am sure will be another memorable show. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Dr Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin COMMUNAL DIARY sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER PHOTO Sophie Sheinwald PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Gemini Studio SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 6 FEBRUARY 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Contents FEATURES 1 LOVE NOTES 3 G MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Sophie Sheinwald captures the cast of Top Hat Productions 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT Top Hat Productions 8 MORE JEWS OFF THE BEATEN TRACK Gillian Rich on her travels 10 ZEH RAK DA’ATI Godfrey Gould’s fifth instalment REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 11 CULTURE Book reviews in advance of Jewish Book Week 16 WHAT’S ON – FEBRUARY Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 12 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 13 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 14 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 15 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers NI SI T RE V N J S Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. S E NI LE DI are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, D N U BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404G unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. A I ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 4 Sussex and the City Your News We are delighted to announce people’s special birthdays, engagements, weddings, successes, etc. so that we can wish them mazel tov. Unfortunately, unless we are made aware of these by family, friends or their shul, some celebrations are missed. We also would be happy to receive a small donation towards publicising your special event – much, much cheaper than the Jewish Chronicle! Special birthdays • Mazel tov to Shirley Brown, Jan Etkin, Lauren Gardner, Barry Leigh, Stephani Neville, Michael Rosenberg, Jeffrey Stanford, Miriam Victor-Beza and all who have special birthdays this month. • A special mazel tov to Jeanette Mazzier who celebrated her 90th birthday in 2018. Get Well • Refuah sheleimah to Jackie Fuller after her major operation and hope she makes a full recovery. • Refuah sheleimah to all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time. Your Views We have just returned home having enjoyed the most wonderful show: Love Notes. The cast, the music, the costumes were amazing together with the production team and in fact everyone who put in so much effort to give the audience a fabulous afternoon and left them clamouring for more. Wow! Gerald Crest JACS (Jewish Association of Cultural Studies) by Sydney Lipman JACS started the new Year with a special meeting at Ralli Hall to discuss future activities under the dedicated chairmanship of Shirley Jaffe. As with every other social club, it needs a team effort to succeed. In this respect, Shirley pointed out that although we have a Treasurer, namely Moss Kimmelman, we need help by way of a Hon Secretary, not so much for correspondence but for liaising with prospective speakers and others who are invited to our meetings, held on the first Thursday of each month at Ralli Hall. This is an opportunity to meet others of interest and with enjoyment in the process. For more information, call Shirley Jaffe on 01273 775461. We look forward to hearing from you. Deaths We wish Long Life to the families of Monty Goodman z’l and Israeli author Amos Oz z’l Monty Goodman passed away in Glasgow on 22nd December/15th Tevet. He will be sadly missed by his wife Ruth, daughters and sons-in-law Aileen and Barry Hill, Lisa and Kevin Woolfson, son Ivor, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He will always be in our thoughts. Lucky Prize Winners • Mazel tov to Corinne and Robert Blass who won the Jewish Chronicle Rosh Hashanah competition for a week’s all-inclusive holiday at Grand Velas Resorts in Mexico in a luxury Zen suite. Corinne states that this is the third time that she and Robert have won such prizes, the first was 20 years ago for a week’s holiday at the Royal Beach in Eilat and a few years later at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth. So, it is true that real people do win these competitions! Holocaust Memorial Day at Sussex TORN FROM HOME This annual event is held by the Centre for German-Jewish Studies. With guest speakers, Professor Richard Overy, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Niklas Frank. The day is split into three sections. Wednesday 6 February 2019 1.30 pm – 5.30 pm Jubilee Lecture Theatre, Jubilee Building, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9SL To book your free place, please email events@sussex.ac.uk ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 Sussex and the City Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer 5 2019 is here and I am hoping this will be a happy, healthy and prosperous time for everyone in the community. This year we have many plans for the Lunch Club. We will be starting a choir - so if you have free time on a Tuesday afternoon, please come and join us and do not worry about your voice, the taking part and having a good time is the most important thing. The 2018 Chanukah Party was enjoyed by all Ralli Hall by Maxine J. Gordon Firstly, thank you to everyone who has already completed and returned their Friends of Ralli Hall 2019 forms. We really do appreciate your support and, as they say, every little counts. If you have not yet received anything from us, do please contact the office and we will send it to you again, along with a reply-paid envelope for your convenience. We are also happy to email the form to you if this is preferable. Already into February, we thought it would be nice to start spring with a spring in our step, so what could be better than utilising our beautiful Main Hall and Stage for a fabulous Barn Dance? For those who love the dances from Footloose, or fancy themselves as the next Bradley Cooper or Dolly Parton, this is for you. You don’t need to know what you’re doing – we’ve got a professional caller to help tell us what to do and where to step. Along with playing your favourite country and western songs, the band promises that everyone can join in to their simple hoedown or line dances, or simply listen to great music and watch the fun. We also plan to have some quizzes and speakers on a Thursday afternoon. I will keep you all updated with future events. Also, this year we are planning a weekend away as well as some outings which will keep everyone busy. Our winter menu has become a real hit with our members with special favourites such as minced beef pie, chicken curries, salt beef and latkes as well as other delicious dishes. So please come along and join us for lunch which is served at 12.15 pm. On a Tuesday morning we are very lucky that Rabbi Efune comes and gives a talk to our members who then love to have a discussion on the subject of his talk. Otherwise, if that is not what you fancy, you can join me with sit-down exercises to music which will keep you all fit. If you enjoy playing Bridge or Kalooki, please join us on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon from 1.45 pm and we will offer you a nice wee cup of tea and biscuits or maybe even cake. Looking forward to seeing you all in 2019. Barn Dance Sunday 17th March 2019 3pm to 7pm...With a 30 minute break for a ‘Wild West’ hot buffet included Time for something different! Join our Community Barn Dance and have fun to a variety of Line and Country Dances from our Professional Caller playing music from the stage to all your Western favourites. No experience or partners necessary. Tables maximum of 8. Fun for everyone. Yes, we’ve got food too! There will be a break for 30-40 minutes to catch your breath and enjoy a Jewish Wild West buffet, which is all included in the ticket. We’ve hopefully Ralli Hall Members: Non Members: Children under 10 years: Parking at Hove Station: £10.00 pp £13.00 pp £5.00 pp £2.15 all day got something tasty for everyone; Chilli, hot dogs, burgers, nachos etc., and soft drinks are also available. We look forward to seeing you on 17 March at this fun event, dressed up in your best jeans and ginghams! Tickets from Ralli Hall: 01273 202254 Email: rallihallcentre@gmail.com ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 6 Sussex and the City Stop it! Stopping social isolation by Jason Lever 01273 747722 This time a year ago we ran a successful volunteer support day, on the theme of STOP IT – Stop Isolation Together. Some thirty volunteers were reminded of the problems of loneliness and isolation by watching a short film about the value of befriending. They were then given insights by expert organisations on how to identify signs of self-neglect and how to report them, how to understand a little more about what it’s like to live with dementia and, more positively, how befriending can transform the lives of people who are isolated. We would like to continue with our STOP IT campaign as we head into winter. So, when you are sitting at home, all warm and cosy with a hot cuppa or glass of wine, do please give an extra thought to other members of the community who might be alone, cold and lonely. We mustn’t always judge a book by its cover, (which we try not to do at my Shul book club) and we must keep an open mind until we delve a bit deeper. Mrs Goldstein or Mr Cohen might look fantastic when you see them in Tesco or Waitrose, but maybe she goes home to an empty house and doesn’t speak to anyone for days on end; and perhaps he struggles to travel to a regular community activity in Ralli Hall but has Helping Hands Tea to then make excuses that he could not go. If the weather takes a turn for the worse, check with Helping Hands to see if we have anyone who needs some support and please look out yourself for friends, acquaintances or neighbours who could benefit from some help. In recent weeks of our Parashot at the time of writing this, ‘love of the stranger’ and ‘loving-kindness’ (hesed) come to the fore. Such as when Abraham and his family show great kindness to the three strangers and invite them into their tent. Sometimes this mitzvah of Hakhnasat Orchim, welcoming guests, comes easier to us than seeking out those who don’t appear at our door. I was asked a few years back to be on standby for a Helping Hands client if some expected bad weather hit. Fortunately, the snow abated but I was able to help out with a job around the house and I now come round for tea every month or so when my commute to London permits. We’ve found common interests in books, Israel and family. There are lots of organised or do-it-yourself routes to playing your part in STOP IT and reducing Social Isolation Together in our community. by Beryl Thei If you have never been to a Helping Hands Tea, you are missing out on something really special. Need a lift to get there? That can be arranged. All you have to do is open your front door to a wonderfully happy Sunday afternoon. From the warm welcome at the entrance, to the sight of so many tables laden with goodies for tea. A beautiful selection of finger sandwiches expertly made, and cakes galore. So many kind volunteers have worked all morning to make this a special occasion for everyone. Make new friends and feel part of a caring community. On Sunday 16 December after we could eat and drink no more, we were wonderfully entertained by the amazing group of singers called the ‘Top Hat Productions’. Then on to the raffle with seemingly endless prizes! Time to leave, but with such happy memories of a special afternoon, and so many wonderful helpers. Why not come along next time and enjoy! The next Helping Hands Community Tea will take place on Sunday 3rd February at 2.30 pm at the AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Hove. ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 Sussex and the City Edward Timms (1937-2018) by Professor Ritchie Robertson 7 Professor Edward (Ted) Timms, who died on 21 November at the age of 81, reshaped his academic discipline by sharply defining two areas, Austrian Studies and, later, German Jewish Studies. From 1956 he read Modern Languages at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he concentrated on German. After a year teaching in Nuremberg, he began a PhD thesis on Austrian writer and journalist Karl Kraus, and in 1963 he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer at the newly founded University of Sussex, which offered great scope for innovatory and cross-disciplinary teaching. Returning in 1965 to Cambridge as a University Assistant Lecturer and Fellow of Caius, he found this environment more restrictive but did his best to broaden the curriculum. Edward’s focus on Austria led to his starting an Austrian Study Group at Cambridge and eventually to founding the yearbook Austrian Studies. Edward’s doctoral thesis was the seed of his first book, Karl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: Culture and Crisis in Habsburg Vienna, published in 1986. Immediately recognized as towering over all other studies of Kraus, the book was translated into German, and even made required reading in its English version in at least one Austrian university. Becoming increasingly restless in Cambridge, Edward accepted the invitation in 1992 to return to Sussex as Professor of German. There, with the support of two Vice Chancellors, Gordon Conway and later Alasdair Smith, he founded the Centre for German-Jewish Studies. Helped by a network of supporters from the Jewish community in London, Brighton and further afield, the Centre aimed to illuminate the history of Jewish emancipation, assimilation and persecution in German-speaking countries. It held a number of major conferences, papers from which were published in book form, notably The German-Jewish Dilemma in 1995. Besides forming its own archive of refugees’ papers, the Centre secured a large AHRC grant to compile a database of refugee archives in Britain. A particularly fascinating collection was the Arnold Daghani archive, which the University had held since 1987 without knowing its value: some 6,000 works of art and notebooks by a survivor of the Nazi slave labour camp at Mikhailovka. This gave rise to several publications, including Memories of Mikhailovka: Arnold Daghani’s Slave Labour Camp Diary, edited by Edward with the art historian Deborah Schultz (2007). Fully aware of the need to encourage young scholars, the Centre set up the bi-annual Max and Hilde Kochmann summer school for PhD students in European cultural history. With the support of the Association for Jewish Refugees, the Centre initiated an annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at the University of Sussex. Both events continue. Meanwhile, Karl Kraus was not forgotten. A second volume, subtitled The Post-War Crisis and the Rise of the Swastika, appeared in 2005. Massive, encyclopaedic, it increasingly focuses on Kraus’s exposure of the horrors of Nazism. Edward’s many scholarly achievements are the more remarkable when one recalls that from about 2000 he was increasingly disabled by multiple sclerosis. Edward bore his affliction with extraordinary fortitude, and his intellectual and social energies were unabated. Together with Fred Bridgham, he accomplished a seemingly impossible translation, of Kraus’s monster drama The Last Days of Mankind, published by Yale in 2015. This accomplishment was awarded the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Translation by the Modern Language Association of America. Having retired from directing the Centre for German-Jewish Studies in 2003, and become Research Professor in History, Edward continued to write down to late 2017. Many honours arrived from both Austria and Britain. Edward received the Austrian State Prize for the History of the Social Sciences in 2002, the Austrian Cross of Honour for Arts and Sciences in 2008, and the Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Province of Vienna in 2013. He was awarded the OBE for services to scholarship in 2005, and elected a Fellow of the British Academy the following year. Everyone who knew Edward will remember his unfailing humanity, self-control, patience, kindness and forbearance. Some very English emotional reserve, instilled by his upbringing, lingered, but was counterbalanced by his sociability and talent for friendship. He loved collaborative enterprises and was a natural networker. He enriched the lives of all those around him. Professor Ritchie Robertson, University of Oxford (former member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies). This obituary is reproduced with the kind permission of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies. Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 8 Features More Jews off the Beaten Track by Gillian Rich In 2010, Michael and I embarked on a circular road trip starting and ending in Chicago. Driving through Wisconsin and Minnesota, we spent time in Minneapolis, before heading across South Dakota. The scenery was wonderful and the history fascinating, but I knew the highlight of South Dakota had to be Deadwood in the Black Hills. As a child, I saw the film Calamity Jane with Doris Day and Howard Keel. The real Calamity Jane is buried in Deadwood, so I was going to pay homage to this feisty woman. When we reached Deadwood, we took the Tourist Walking tour. Turning a corner, we saw a surprising notice board. That was when we realised that Deadwood had some interesting Jewish history. Away from the notice board, we spotted various shops with obvious Jewish names. Yet again, in the middle of nowhere, we found a Jewish connection. We then headed for the Mt. Moriah cemetery up on the hill, to see Calamity Jane’s final resting place, next to Wild Bill Hickok. The entrance to the cemetery is a metal archway with three metal circles. One circle has symbols of Christianity; another circle has Masonic symbols, but the circle on the right surrounds a Magen David. This was explained when we saw a sign to Hebrew Hill. On August 28, 1892, the Hebrew Cemetery Association purchased a section for Jewish burials for the sum of $200. Hebrew Hill is accessible by a pathway marked “Jerusalem”. More than 80 Jews, many from the founding families, are buried up on Hebrew Hill, or Mount Zion, as it was known among the community. There were also some more recent graves. The names on the gravestones tell the history of the Jews of Deadwood. ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 Features The first Jews in Deadwood appear to have been attracted by the discovery of gold in the 1870s. One of these was Solomon (Sol) Star, who had been born in Bavaria. Sent, at age 10 years, by his parents to live with his uncle in Ohio, he ended up a store keeper in Montana. Because of his interest in politics, he was appointed a Registrar of Land by President Ulysses S. Grant, a territorial auditor and personal secretary to the Governor. In 1876 he arrived in Deadwood with his business partner Seth Bullock, from Montana. They brought wagons loaded with hardware and set up a successful store, Bullock & Star. Sol Star was elected mayor for 12 years. He also organised the first Fire Department and was an early Postmaster. He was mentioned in the TV series ‘Deadwood’. In 1879, the first telephone system in Deadwood was installed by a Jew of English descent, Paul Rewman. It was actually the first telephone system in South Dakota. The Franklin Hotel, Main St. was founded by Harris Franklin (originally Finkelstein), a German Jewish immigrant who was a peddler in upstate New York. He set up a successful liquor business, so he could bring his wife and their 7-year-old son to join him in 1877. He then went on to make a fortune in cattle, banking, and a gold mine. His only son, Nathan Franklin, eventually became the second Jewish mayor of Deadwood in 1914 and 1916. The family built a magnificent house, designed by a Chicago synagogue architect, Simeon Eisendrath. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Another prominent Jewish Deadwood resident was Nathan Colman (originally Kugelman). His businesses included a confectionery and tobacco shop, ice and milk shops, a bakery, and a mining company. He was one of the first of the 9 Jewish pioneers in Deadwood. He arrived in the winter of 1876. His wife, Amalia, arrived by stagecoach the following spring with infant Anne, the first of seven children, only three of whom survived childhood. He was a long-term Justice of the Peace. The Black Hill Times said ‘If you want an honest man, elect Judge Colman. He is no slouch. He is a Western man’. His daughter, Blanche, was the first Jewish baby born in Deadwood. One of the first women lawyers in South Dakota, she acted as legal counsel for the Homestake Gold mine two miles up the hill in Lead (pronounced Leed). Apparently, she walked to and from work to keep fit. She died in 1978 at the age of 94, in her apartment in the Franklin Hotel. There is a story that her ghost still walks its corridors. Nathan Colman was deeply religious and acted, for over 30 years, as lay Rabbinic leader for the community. They rented space from the Masonic Temple for High Holydays, but held regular services in private homes. No permanent synagogue was ever built. The Deadwood Torah was brought there by Freda Lowenberg from Koenigsburg in 1886, the final part of the journey by stagecoach. It was for her wedding to Benjamin Blumenthal, a dealer in hides. The Torah is now kept at the Synagogue of the Hills in Rapid City, SD. The first Jewish wedding in Deadwood was on April 10, 1879, in the D. Holzman Building on 647 Main Street. “It was one of the most prominent social events since the settlement of this country”, according to the Black Hills Daily Times. “Mr. David Holzman, one of our bonanza clothing dealers, and Miss Rebecca Reubens, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mr. Louis Reubens, were joined in the holy bonds of wedlock. The interesting ceremony took place at the residence of the bride’s parents in Ingleside, in the presence of at least 60 ladies and gentleman of our best Hebrew society and of all other nationalities.” The local mohel was Felix Polansky, the owner of a dry goods and clothing store. He seemed to be the mohel for western South Dakota. One of Deadwood’s most successful businesses was Jacob Goldberg’s grocery store, founded in 1876. He had arrived in America, aged 18, from Germany. He started off in New York, but came to Deadwood in the Gold Rush via Montana, with Sol Star and others. Jacob founded the city Library. His sons, Joe and Sam, continued to run the store after he retired to California. Other Jewish businesses in Deadwood were Herman Rosenthal’s clothing store, Joe Levinson’s jewellery store and Sam Schwarzvald’s furniture store. Deadwood became what it was partly due to the input of the Jewish community. As the gold ran out, many Jews moved on, although some stayed and others intermarried. According to Ann Haber Stanton, a noted historian, the extraordinary character of the American West was not that Jews were welcomed and accepted, although there was some antisemitism. It didn’t matter where they were from or who they were. They were measured in Western terms – character, spirit and what they brought to the Frontier for themselves and others. ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 10 Features Zeh Rak Da’ati - 5 by Godfrey R Gould Some years ago, I was perusing the Brighton & Hove Bus Company website for some information regarding the names on their buses. Some of the entries looked very familiar until I realised that I had written them and that the Bus Company was using them, as they might also have been using other material. There is nothing illegal about this but it is nice to have one’s work acknowledged. Later, when I helped them compile the official book of the Names, my contribution was then specifically credited. I noted this recently on reading an article in a local website and wondering why some very salient aspects were absent. I subsequently discovered that the article had been lifted verbatim from a Wikipedia entry, but that part of it had been omitted because of space. This all leads up to me considering the sources of information in sundry outlets. Straight copying is acceptable but the source of the original should be acknowledged. If the piece is credited by another without permission it is totally wrong and is tantamount to theft - plagiarism. But most of what you might read here and elsewhere is derived from other people’s writings. However, there should well be a number of sources and the new author will have put together a new piece with his or her own slant on the subject. This is usually what happens with Wikipedia and usually a list of the sources is given often with specific references. In a more general article for popular consumption this may not be the norm but should there be, it is useful to confirm the facts or to enable you to pursue further study of the subject should the fancy take you. This is secondary research. It may not be perfection but it absolves the general reader from a lot of hard work. And then we come to primary research, working from original material and putting together an account not previously available. In his recent talk to the Jewish Historical Society on Brighton and Hove Jewry between 1910 and 1920, Michael Crook delved into material not previously sourced and thus produced an account that was totally new. And my colleague Gordon Franks is assiduous in examining all the records he can find to ensure the accuracy of what he might write or speak upon. When I wrote an account of the Jewish Welfare Board, I read all the Minute Books, Reports, correspondence and other records of the Board and its predecessors that I could find. I also had conversations with sundry relevant people, but I have to say that personal memories are not always accurate unless they can be corroborated! For my study of the growth of the preservation movement in Rottingdean, I had access to such records as the correspondence files of the nascent Preservation Society in the 1920s. One problem is that whilst sundry Secretaries were assiduous in keeping carbon copies of their Reports and letters, originals to which they referred were too often missing. Similarly, when I prepared a major piece on the Kemp Town Branch Railway, I found in the Records of Brighton Council a Report which described purchases to be made and which were identified on a colour-coded map. Unfortunately, the map was missing so I had to make several assumptions by walking the area in question. And in a monograph on the same subject, the author, Peter Harding states, on page 28, that “Brighton Council bought the whole branch ... for an undisclosed figure”. But by examining the relevant Minute Books of Brighton Council I can disclose that the figure was actually £500,000 plus oncosts. Original research can truly have its moments. When doing this research, I asked Anthony Seldon, then Headmaster of Brighton College, if I could examine the Minute Books of the Meetings of the College Governors from the 1860s. He was very cooperative and for a few weeks these most valuable and unique records lay in my study. Totally fascinating reading of the management of a major public school now over a century and a half ago. There was even Counsel’s Opinion regarding the building of the new Railway so close to the School. So, read with care. Where has the information come from? Has it been lifted wholesale? Or is it a new version of old studies? Or is it really original? Look for a Bibliography at least. Or much better, specific references. But please don’t ever take what you read at face value. Even this. Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 Culture Pear Shaped and Grin and Pear It by Joan Melcher How can one man be so courageous, inspirational and hilarious? This was the comment made about Adam’s books. Grin and Pear It is the somewhat unexpected sequel to his darkly funny PEAR SHAPED. Both books will have you smiling, although the story of Adam’s four-and-a-half-year battle after the removal of a deadly pear-shaped brain tumour, is hardly the response one would expect. Adam, a 44-year old corporate lawyer, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour called Glioblastoma Multiforme, four and a half years ago. The prognosis for this tumour is dreadful - the median survival rate being 15 months. The tumour was removed and months of harrowing treatment followed. Thou Shalt Innovate Review by Ivor Richards There have been several books published in recent years, praising Israel’s outstanding technological breakthroughs, particularly in communications and medical equipment. Many of us will have read Israel Start-up Nation but Thou Shalt Innovate shows its people in a much more human way, revealing the difficulties and obstructions the innovators faced and overcame, with typical Jewish Chutzpah. It is only a small book, some 175 pages, but packed with so much information. Take a few examples of the individuals highlighted: • Simcha Blass, the inventor of the drip feed irrigation system, widely used throughout the world. The company he helped to found continues to help farmers, horticulturalists and governments almost everywhere. • Shlomo Nevarro, inventor of the grain cocoon, the way in which grain harvests are protected from bugs, thereby 11 The diagnosis led Adam to write his first book, Pear Shaped. The widow of the late Senator John McCain in America, who died of a Glioblastoma, tweeted Adam to say that her husband, “read from your book every day. It made him laugh.” Adam is fast witted and funny, “irreverence is my f---you to cancer”, he says; and this attitude is what makes his books so courageous and admirable. Adam’s books are a moving look at the challenges of life after treatment for cancer and a tribute to a brave and supportive family, wife Lucinda and children now aged 16, 14 and 9. Both books are available at Amazon, £2.99 Kindle edition with the print edition now out. SUSSEX JEWISH FILM CLUB AND THE JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY (SUSSEX BRANCH) Present a Special Evening for Jewish History Month at Ralli Hall. On Sunday 10th MARCH 2019 PHIL GRABSKY - 35 YEARS IN FILM MAKING increasing food stock. Shades of Joseph in Egypt? • Harry Tzvi Tabor, pioneer of the use of solar energy. • Dr Amit Goffer, inventor of the ReWalk system enabling the disabled to walk again. Just a few examples of the stories showing how Israelis with determination and chutzpah achieved results to show that Israel is becoming ‘a light unto the Nations’. Thou shalt innovate is published by Gefen, Jerusalem and is available on Amazon and at Wordery The book’s identifier is ISBN 978-965-229-493-7 Programme for the evening: 7.30pm Light Refreshments (Tea, Coffee & Biscuits) 8.00 Presentation 9.00 Any Questions? 9.30 Conclude Free to Ralli Hall and JHSE Members. Visitors £5.00 Contacts: Film Club David Bresh dbresh@icloud.com JHSE: Michael Crook amcrook321@gmail.com Parking at Hove Station Car Park Cost £2.15 ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 12 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform BrightonReform Even great leaders need help by Jason Lever (shaliach tzibbur during Rabbi Andrea’s sabbatical) As we celebrate the new secular year, in the Jewish calendar we have recently changed from Bereshit/Genesis to Shemot/Exodus. When we did this, the traditional words are recited, hazak hazak v’net-hazak, literally meaning ‘be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another’. This has echoes of what we do together at Pesach in remembering our story of the Exodus in a family or communal setting. Early in the new sedra, at the Burning Bush, Moses raises his doubts to G-d that he was the right person for the job to prepare the people for leaving Egypt. This hinted at his knowledge of just how entrenched were the Israelites in eretz mitzrayim in a mindset of submission and fear. It was also a case of his being 80 years old, living most of his life as a shepherd, husband and father in Midian having fled Egypt after killing the cruel Egyptian taskmaster. The generation he knew had probably passed on. He didn’t know these people any more. Confidence and training for public life, gained from his privileged upbringing in the royal court, was now a lifetime away. Moses later expresses doubts that he can be the advocate in Pharaoh’s court, as he is “slow of speech and of a slow tongue”, and “how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips”. This phrase may have meant he was unskilled and lacking confidence in oratory, or implied that he had some form of speech impediment. Regardless, this problem was compounded by the emotional state of the people which was little aid to Moses’ resolve. At first, on hearing from him, they “bowed their heads and worshipped” God to show their belief that “the Lord had remembered the children of Israel”. Yet this quickly turned to “impatience of spirit” when not only did Moses and Aaron’s first appeal to Pharaoh not work, but actually led to worse hardship. They now had to go and collect the straw needed to make the bricks. This crushed their initial hopes. Faced with this challenge, G-d reassures Moses that, “Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”, and act as the official spokesperson to the people and Pharaoh. Even Moses marked out for greatness could not carry this burden alone. It was one thing to lead your family as the patriarchs and matriarchs had done. But the change from Genesis to Exodus was of a single family nucleus being at the centre of history, to the difficulties and achievements of all the people of Israel. That most formidable team of sibling leaders in the Torah – Moses, Miriam and Aaron – were all destined to fall short individually and fail the ultimate test of perfect leadership, and so never made that final journey into the Promised Land. For the Exodus journey of forty years, it was the teamwork of two brothers and a sister, and later Joshua, that was needed to successfully shepherd a people, this Israel nation in-development, into the land of Canaan. On the Shabbat morning when we were reading of these crushed hopes of the enslaved Israelites, a special visitor from Israel, Iosif Begun, poignantly related the Parasha to his imprisonment of 16 years in the Soviet Gulag as a prominent refusenik during the 1970s and 1980s. We have much to be thankful for. Bulletin Board - February Friday 1 RSY Netzer Sleepover, 5.30 pm Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 2 Shabbat Doroteinu, 10.30 am Sunday 10 BHRS Supper Quiz, 6.30 pm Saturday 16 Neshir - Let’s sing, 10.30 am The Bulletin Board is subject to change. - - - ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org Priorities in Giving by Rabbi Hershel Rader 13 Many of the experiences of our ancestors in the wilderness were ‘one offs’. The revelation at Sinai, Manna from heaven and the earth swallowing G-d’s enemies happened once and we haven’t seen their like since. But in several of this month’s Sidrot we read of a phenomenon which has become a recurring experience in communities all over the world – the first Jewish building project! G-d instructs Moshe to build a Sanctuary and not having to wait for planning permission, Moshe, in what has become time honoured fashion, makes an appeal. We’re going to build a sanctuary for Hashem, and these are the materials we need; gold, silver, copper, various fabrics and animal skins, wood, spices, precious stones - a detailed list of eighteen items. Moshe, despite his speech impediment, must have been a very persuasive fund raiser because soon they had all the materials needed, forcing him to tell the people to discontinue their donations. Now that really was a one off! The question arises and this is a recurring question, was it necessary to utilise so many precious resources for the Sanctuary? Weren’t there, and aren’t there, more deserving causes? Is G-d so caught up with His own self-importance and aggrandisement that He requires a home in which the principle building material is gold? Isn’t what we feel in our hearts during worship of true significance as opposed to the trappings of the edifice where that worship takes place? I recall being approached by a couple who had recently moved into a salubrious new home in an exclusive residential area. No, they didn’t approach me for my advice on interior decoration but they did want a mezuzah on every door. When I informed them of the price of the mezuzot their reaction was, ‘so expensive, is it really necessary to spend so much on religion, do we have to have them on every door?’ I answered them on two levels: firstly, it’s a matter of priorities; what’s more important to you, the BHHC Events to April 2019 Catered Lunch & Learn Monthly on Wednesdays at 12.15 pm 6 February, 6 March, 3 April Featuring a three course lunch – cost £7.50 Monthly Friday Night Dinners 22 February at 6.30 pm (provisional time) 15 March at 7.00 pm (provisional time) Cost £15.00 - Spaces limited Pesach Seder Friday 19 April Please call the shul office 01273 888855 to book or for further information number of bedrooms you have in your house, your curtains and swimming pool or your Jewish identity and relationship with the Almighty? The cost of a mezuzah for each room is probably less than the cost of the light fitting in that room, is it less of a necessity? Secondly, and this is important to note, G-d does not give us Mitzvot for His sake but for ours, for they serve as a practical way of refining and focusing our lives and in the context of our life experience are virtually priceless. The symbolism of the Mezuzah has far more value than any passing fashion in design or decor, or the satisfaction of knowing and showing that we have ‘made it’ on the socio-economic scene. The same applied to the Sanctuary. The Jews had left Egypt with a purpose which was to be their top priority and raison d’être. As Moshe said in his first encounter with Pharaoh, G-d says ‘let My people go that they may serve Me’. We left Egypt to serve G-d and prioritise His ways within our lives and our surroundings. The Sanctuary, which was a combination of splendour and practicality, embodied this goal, attesting to the fact that there is nothing more precious than our relationship with the Divine. The Sanctuary, as well as the donations towards its construction, reminds us of the commitment we should have towards all of Hashem’s projects. May He continue to bless us and may we share those blessings with others. Our Weekly Shiurim Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Wednesdays, 12.30-1.30 pm. Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur. (no charge). Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 14 HHC Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 Email: hollandroadshul@btconnect.com www.hollandroadshul.com From Iran (Shushan) to the UK (Lambeth) by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer With the arrival of ‘Purim Katan’ due to take place this month on 19 February (the first month of Adar, it being a Hebrew Leap year), it is incumbent upon us to reflect on the historic story and message of Purim without any obligation to fulfil the various Mitzvot of Purim (such as listening to the Megillah or donating charity to the poor) and this is reflected within Halacha. This naturally leaves us with more space to ponder more profoundly and perhaps contemplate to a greater degree the implications of the Purim story whilst not being in a state of inebriation. To my mind, one of the issues to emerge from the story of Purim is the state of Jewish relations with our host nation, something that has been much highlighted recently here in the UK. In November 2018 I was invited to attend an event at Lambeth Palace entitled “In Good Faith” hosted by the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in collaboration with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. It was, to say the least, a most informative and heart-warming experience. I felt privileged to have been present among Rabbinical colleagues, alongside predominantly Anglican Priests from across the country. Both the Chief Rabbi and the Archbishop addressed the august group of invitees as did Rabbi David Rosen (International Director for Interreligious Affairs) in his role as keynote speaker. All three proved to be erudite, revelatory in their content and bursting with positively good will for the future. Lambeth Palace, for those who are not familiar, has been the London home to Archbishops of Canterbury for several centuries and was the venue where Sir Thomas More was summoned in 1534 in order to sign the Oath of Succession. But to my mind, the crème de la crème of the Palace is the Library which houses the largest religious collection outside of the Vatican, all under specialist lighting and controlled temperatures. On the day, we had the opportunity to pray Mincha under its magnificent vaulted ceilings… how very apt for ‘the people of the Book!’ Personally, I felt overwhelmed to have witnessed first hand such tangible progress in Jewish - Christian relations. I think it would have been unthinkable to fathom such an event even as recently as a half century ago and it is testimony to the joint and common values espoused by both Judaism and Christianity in our era. Notwithstanding, our common narratives are also the basis for our interpretative differences and this must also be honestly acknowledged. Moreover, I was pleasantly educated in learning more about the various versions of Nostra Aetate and the details of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel at the end of 1993 which paved the way for the historic visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. A spectacular experience I happen to have personally witnessed. Furthermore, greater Orthodox Jewish involvement with the Christian World was established with the initiative taken by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, with the support of Chief Rabbi Sacks to establish an Anglican – Jewish Bilateral Commission with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which was signed by him and the Chief Rabbis of Israel at Lambeth Palace in 2006. All of this and more has led to greater dialogue, enhanced respect and shared values. Whereas in many eras of the past, Christianity has at best merely tolerated the Jews and at worst, committed horrific atrocities towards them, Judaism has traditionally looked upon Christianity as a mistaken interpretation of faith. I would like to quote for you Rabbi Moses Rivkes (Or Ravkash), the 17th Century author of the Beer HaGoleh commentary on the Code of Jewish Law, who states, “The peoples in whose shade we, the people of Israel, take refuge and amongst whom we are dispersed, do believe in the Creation and the Exodus and in the main principles of religion and their whole intent is to serve the Maker of Heaven and Earth. We are obliged to save them from danger and commanded to pray for their welfare” (Choshen Mishpat Sect. 425). Indeed, the Maimonidean idea is that Christianity is the vehicle by which Judaism’s universal values are brought to the world. Rav Yaakov Emden (1697 – 1796) develops this Maimonidean idea and suggests that precisely because the Jewish people is a Divinely designated paradigm of a sacred particularity (“A kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation”), it is not capable of bringing those universal values to the world without Christianity! These perspectives naturally have implications regarding respect for each other’s self-definition and understanding. Of course, none of this excludes our other brother from the discussion. To this end, Islam was represented at Lambeth Palace and as a case-in-point, the first Jewish - Muslim Religious Leadership Council in Europe was launched a few months ago precisely to advance our mutual concerns. I think we have undoubtedly moved on significantly since the days of Achashverosh and Haman which ended in much bloodshed as testified in the scroll of Esther, to the dawning of a new era of tolerance and understanding even amidst admittedly some dark corners of prejudice. I for one feel elated. Want to save money on your Home / Business Expenses with a Which? Recommended supplier? Contact David Schaverien Tel: 01273 779001 Email: theschav@uwclub.net ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 February Dates to Remember By Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah 15 This year, February coincides, give or take a few days, with the Hebrew month of Adar Rishon, the ‘first’ month of Adar. We are in a 13-month year, and so the year that began with Nisan in the spring, will end with two months of Adar. The festival we associate with Adar – Purim on the 14th of the month – will take place in Adar Sheini, the second month of Adar. Being a month that only appears seven times in a 19- year cycle, Adar Rishon is empty of commemorations. During this empty month of Adar Rishon, I would like to invite you to reflect on two February dates from the past that are separated by 350 years. My source is the Jewish historian Cecil Roth’s, A Jewish Book of Days (Edward Goldston, 1931). On February 6, 1481, the first auto de fé – ritual execution of those convicted of heresy – took place at Seville. Involving the public burning of six Jewish women and men accused of ‘Judaising’, this was the terrible moment when the Spanish Inquisition that had been established by a Papal Bull on November 1, 1478, got down to its murderous work. There were 2000 such public burnings in all on the Iberian Peninsula and in the Spanish colonies; the last one taking place as late as 1826. 31,912 people were burned in person – although not all alive – and 17,659 were burned in effigy. Those who wanted to avoid such a terrible fate converted to Christianity and became Jews in secret. Miraculously, these Events@ BHPS Sunday Lectures and Lunches 24 February: Dr Aviva Deutsch – ‘The Remarkable Isaac Rosenberg: WW1 Poet and Painter’ 31 March: Dr David Jacobson – ‘Herod’s Temple – The most remarkable building of the Roman Empire (20 BC) The programme begins at 11.30 am with a welcome drink on arrival. The lecture by the guest speaker begins at 12 noon and is followed by a Q&A session. Lunch, which includes wine or soft drinks and coffee, is from 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm. Only £22.50 per person. Non-members and their friends welcome. See our website for the full series programme and booking details. Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. February 8: Prue Baker: ‘Ye Gods.’ A light-hearted canter around the Greek gods on Mount Olympus: what do they get up to and why we are still interested in them. March 8: Michael Austin: ‘The Habsburgs and the Jews’. At the beginning of the 20th century over 2 million Jews lived in the Habsburg Empire. Who were they, how did they live and where? Date for your Diary Following last year’s sell-out piano concert we are delighted that Joanna McGregor will perform for us again on Wednesday 15th May in St George’s Church, Kemp Town. conversos managed to pass on a sense of Jewish identity to their descendants, and today a Jewish revival in Spain is seeing increasing numbers of these descendants claim their Jewish inheritance. In response to this revival, in November 2012, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, Spain’s Justice Minister at the time, announced a plan to give Sephardi Jews, that is those whose ancestors had been expelled from Spain in 1492 a fast track to Spanish citizenship (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ magazine-21631427). On February 8, 1831, almost exactly 350 years after the first auto de fé, complete equality was granted to the Jews of France. The French Revolution of 1789 had begun the process of emancipation, and even after the restoration of the monarchy the process continued. So, in 1831 it was decreed that as was the case for the Catholic and Protestant churches, rabbis would be supported by the State. As Roth puts it: ‘A motion to put Judaism on terms of equality with other officially-recognised religions in this respect was passed by the chamber on November 13, 1830, by a large majority: and after it had received the approval of the upper house, it was ratified by Louis Philippe on February 8, 1831’ (p. 35). It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that France became a secular state. During February this year, let us reflect on these two contrasting moments in Jewish history. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli Open to all those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. Classes are held on Shabbat from 2.15 pm to 3.45pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. 2 February: Finding your way through the Chumash 9 February: Kippah Tallit & T’fillin 16 February: M’zuzah, Kashrut & Jewish Particularity 23 February: The Calendar & the cycle of the months Advance notice: there will be no classes on 2 March. Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli Classes are held on Shabbat afternoons from 1.00 pm to 2-00 pm and are open to students of all levels – from total beginners to those wishing to study classical Hebrew grammar and/ or prepare a Torah reading. Students work on their own or in chavruta (pairs), with input and support from Rabbi Elli. To join the class, please contact the synagogue: info@bhps-online.org Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesdays from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm for social activities. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming online at info@bhps-online.org or by ringing 01273 737223 ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 16 What’s on: February 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 1 4.34 pm Sat 2 5.46 pm Fri 8 4.46 pm Sat 9 5.57 pm Fri 15 4.59 pm Sat 16 6.08 pm Fri 22 5.11 pm Sat 23 6.20 pm SPECIAL DATES Tuesday 14 Purim Katan Wednesday 15 Shushan Purim Katan EVENTS IN FEBRUARY Sunday 3 Sussex Jewish Film Club presents ‘Gett’ 7.00 for 7.30 pm at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. Donation £4.00. Refreshments available. Wednesday 6 Holocaust Memorial Day at the University of Sussex. ‘Torn From Home’. Guest speakers Prof Richard Overy, Anita Lasker Wallfisch and Niklas Frank. Jubilee Lecture Theatre, Jubilee Building, University of Sussex BN1 9SL, 1.30 pm – 5.30 pm. Free event. Booking email events@sussex.ac.uk Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the February 2019 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Wednesday 20 Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain: Sussex Group - Winter meeting at Ralli Hall, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm. Speaker Simon Hesselberg. Tuesday 26 Jewish Historical Society of England, Sussex Branch with guest speaker Michael Berkowitz, Professor of Modern Jewish History at UCL on New perspectives on Jews and film-making in World War II America and Britain. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.30 pm. Members free. Visitors £5.00. Contact amcrook321@gmail. com or g.gould915@btinternet.com Advance Notice: 2 – 10 March Jewish Book Week, Kings Place, 90 York Way London N1 9AG. T:020 7520 1490 with lunchtime events at JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road, London NW3 6ET T: 020 7433 8988. For further information, visit website at info@jewishbookweek.com IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM ROAD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF Please note that our next issue will be March 2019 The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 6th February 2019 REGULAR ACTIVITIES Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune 8.15 – 9.15 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday at Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club, 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS), Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune, men and ladies welcome, 8.15 - 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent and child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650. Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation, Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538. Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 ISSUE 293 | FEBRUARY 2019 -
Issue 292
January 2019
1 JANUARY 2019 • TEVET - SHEVAT 5779 • ISSUE 292 SUSSEX SUSSEX JEWISH JEWISH NEWS NEWS WHAT’S INSIDE.... NATIONAL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAMME | HOLOCAUST REFLECTIONS SUSSEX JEWISH REP COUNCIL | WHAT’S ON | AND MORE Whats 2 Community Spotlight 3 Jewish Historical Society of England – Sussex Branch by Godfrey R Gould Even the atrocious weather of 27 November could not dampen individuals who had taken part and especially those who had the enthusiasm of the capacity audience who turned up at our perished. last meeting of 2018 to hear our Chairman, Michael Crook, speak on The Brighton Jewish Community: 1910-1920. This lecture was delivered to commemorate the end of the Great War a century ago. In all, this was a most impressive display of original research excellently presented. Michael observed that it was surprising that nobody had undertaken such a study before. The many who had made such a special effort to attend were not Michael has researched most diligently from several primary disappointed. sources, such as the Minutes of the Brighton Hebrew Congregation, the Jewish Chronicle Archive, the Jewish Roll of Honour and local Directories to assemble this Our next meeting will be on impressive picture of the Brighton and Hove Jewish community then. The Tuesday 29 January 2019. many intriguing highlights included Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 29 January 2019 when Dr Imogen Choi, Queen Sofia Special Fellow and Lecturer in Spanish, Exeter College, and Associate Professor of Spanish at the short-lived Montefiore Minyan, the the University of Oxford, will speak impressive generosity of Sir John Howard, and the remarkable on “Mediaeval Sephardi Literature”. The meeting will be at Ralli number of High Holydays services (five, all Orthodox!). Of Hall commencing at 7.45 pm, free for members, students and course, most important, was the contribution made by men of season ticket holders, only £5 to most welcome guests and the local Jewish Community in the global conflict. Here, Michael visitors, and which also includes light refreshments after the had discovered many discrepancies in the numbers and of the lecture. Cover: Flower images painted by members of the Jewish Art Society (JAS) for the new Top Hat production this month. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Dr Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 COMMUNAL DIARY sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER PHOTO Rochelle Oberman the Jewish community across the region. PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Gemini Studio SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 JANUARY 2019 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 TOP HAT FLOWERS Image by various members of the Jewish Arts Society 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT Jewish Historical Society – Sussex Branch 9 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2019 The programme at the University of Sussex 10 HOLOCAUST REFLECTIONS The Great Escape, Torn from Home and Rabbi Charles Wallach 13 ZEH RAK DA’ATI Godfrey Gould’s fourth instalment 14 SUSSEX JEWISH REP COUNCIL What our great and good have been up to REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 8 CULTURE Film and East Preston remembers 20 WHAT’S ON – JANUARY Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 16 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 17 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 18 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 19 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Special Birthdays Deaths We wish a very happy birthday to Maurice Booker, Nati We wish Long Life to the families of Gerald Conn z’l and Buchalter, Tonia Lewis, Sylvia Simon, Ivor Sorokin and all Professor Edward (Ted) Timms OBE z’l who have special birthdays this month. Get Well Erratum In the December issue of SJN we printed the name of Hershel We wish refuah sheleimah to all who are unwell or in Gorker z’l as having passed away. This should have read hospital at the present time. Hershel Golker z’l. We apologize for the error and wish the family Long Life. Your Views From Myrna Carlebach My continued congratulations for your welcome bit of Lauterpacht initiated the phrase Human Rights and Lemkin Brighton interest every month. invented the word Genocide. Lauterpacht was one of the I always read it cover to cover with a special interest in the four rabbinical thoughts. However, this month I need to add to British team at the Nuremberg Trials and was Professor of Law at Cambridge University. the Jewish Connection to Human Rights article. We knew the Lauterpacht family in Cambridge and I taught With respect, you cannot talk about the Declaration of Human the three grandchildren in the cheder. Rights without mentioning Hersch Lauterpacht whose design You can read the amazing story of Lauterpacht and Lemkin in it was. He and Rafael Lemkin were both Jewish law students Phillipe Sands’ amazing book, “East West Street”. at Lvov university before WW2. from Peggy Sherwood MBE I read with interest Simon Seligman’s article in the December 2018 SJN and also the Pause for Thought piece. Having been born and brought up in Hove, and having been an out of town member of BHPS for several years, I enjoy my subscription to SJN very much. For many years now, my synagogue, Finchley Progressive Synagogue, has taken part in Together in Barnet’s Winter Night Shelter. Each night, a different place of worship in the London Borough of Barnet opens its doors, provides a hot three course meal, hosts up to 17 guests (referred by Together in Barnet) to sleep in the building, and then provides a fully cooked breakfast. Finchley Progressive Synagogue was the first synagogue to be involved in the Shelter but now there are others – Finchley Reform (who also run the five day/ night Christmas Night Shelter), Shaare Zadek Reform and now this year New North London Masorti. The Shelter runs for 30 weeks from October through till April with three cycles of ten weeks each. This year Finchley Progressive has been involved in the first ten week cycle every Tuesday night. A band of four or five FPS members open up the synagogue at 7pm and serve a delicious vegetarian home-cooked meal to our guests, at 10pm two further volunteers come to sleep over in the synagogue with the guests and then around 6.30am a further two volunteers arrive to cook a full vegetarian breakfast. The guests leave by ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 8.30am and two further volunteers transport sleeping bags on to the next venue. This is a wonderful project which I’m proud to say I’ve done the FPS rota for the past three years. This year it was extended to 30 weeks from 24. At the end of the 30 weeks we hope that many of the guests will have found accommodation before being back on the streets for the summer months although it’s sad to note that sometimes we see many familiar faces the following year. Synagogues and other places of worship are ideal places for a Night Shelter – generally unused at night and large enough to accommodate people who otherwise would have spent the night on the streets. Because it is a project run through Together in Barnet guests are referred to us – no alcohol or drug use is tolerated and we have had few problems. Finchley Progressive Synagogue is also a collection point for Finchley FoodBank which is run by our neighbours and friends at St Mary’s Church, East Finchley. Recently we had a request for Advent Calendars for their clients – we delivered over 50 to the Church last week as a special treat. And we also co-run a Coffee Club for Syrian Refugees settled in the London Borough of Barnet – true multi-faith working and collaboration. I’m so proud to be associated with the synagogue because this is true Tzedakah and, I strongly believe, the way forward to heal our broken world. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer I am sure you are wondering what happened to 2018? I am not sure I can answer that but I do know that everyone had a great time at the Lunch and Social Club. I cannot thank our amazing volunteers enough for all the hard work, dedication and kindness they give to the Lunch Club as it could not exist without them. Thank you so much and I look forward to working with you all next year. Once again, we enjoyed our long weekend in Eastbourne which was well supported. The weather was wonderful and everyone had a great time. Our members went for a day out to Rushfields Plant Centre where they enjoyed a lovely lunch and cream tea. Our annual Card Afternoon was a great success with a full house of seventeen tables of bridge, kalooki and rummikub, followed by a delicious tea. This is one of our major Message from the Centre Manager by Maxine Gordon ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 fundraising events of the year and we thank Alan and Shirley Burke and their magnificent volunteers for such a great afternoon. On Tuesday 4th December we held our annual Chanukah party and were joined by the Sussex Jewish Representative Council, our card ladies, Helping Hands and JACS. Top Hat Productions entertained us, much to everyone’s delight. Chanukah candles were lit by Rabbi Efune. What with our members and volunteers together numbering about 110 people, it was quite a squeeze but well worth it. Our new winter menu is proving to be successful, with lovely thick winter soups, pies and traditional food that our members enjoy. We look forward to seeing current members and volunteers together with new faces in 2019 Happy New Year! Our membership forms are on their way and we hope you will be able to support Ralli Hall this year by becoming a member. We really do appreciate the contributions that are made to your local Jewish Community Centre, and we would be grateful if you are able to do so in 2019. If we haven’t sent you a form, do please let us know. The term ‘membership’ has been misinterpreted over many years - people often ask, “what will I get for my membership?”. So, it was agreed by our Board to change it to ‘Friends of Ralli Hall’. We are sure you will agree that this now represents the real reason – friendship, loyalty and a commitment received from members of our local community, who take the time to support the only non-denominational Jewish Centre in the South-East. Thank you. We are proud that, since 1976, we have been able to support our local community and a few recent examples include:- • Top Hat Productions – supporting a locally home-grown group by providing free rehearsal space over a 6-month period and our beautiful Main Hall with Stage for their annual shows. • Complimentary meeting and function rooms for local groups including Sussex Jewish Representative Council, Helping Hands, Sussex Friends of Israel, Jewish Living, Brighton & Hove Jewish School and CST Security. • Interesting Ralli Hall groups which are run by dedicated volunteers for many years, including Israeli Dancing and JAS (Jewish Art Society) on a weekly basis, and Jewish Film Club every 2 months. Tel: 01273 202254 rallihallcentre@gmail.com www.rallihall.com • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club – their home every Tuesday and Thursday where the older congregation can enjoy Kosher lunches, entertainment, and more importantly, company. Once a month (1st Thursday) they are also joined by JACS (Jewish Association of Cultural Societies) where interesting speakers visit, and a variety of different topics are discussed. • Many Simchas, including Wedding Anniversaries, Birthdays, Pre-Barmitzvah Shabbos dinners, Chabad functions for the whole community including Festivals and High Holy Day celebrations. We are delighted to welcome Nicola Hyman, Lesley Walker, Michele Kay and Gary Weston as new Committee Members on our Board. All have an abundance of Jewish community experience, local knowledge and bright ideas. They will definitely enhance our established team, making it an exciting time ahead. In fact, save the date of our forthcoming Barn Dance on Sunday 17th March 2019 – more details to follow! We look forward to welcoming you to Ralli Hall in 2019. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 6 Sussex and the City 7 Turning a vision into reality by David Shinegold As the five of us looked around the empty room which the staff at Ralli Hall had kindly arranged for us with tables, chairs and refreshments for forty people, we speculated on how many would attend this significant communal meeting to discuss the possibility of establishing a Jewish Primary School in Brighton and Hove. It was a proposal we had been exploring for over a year, and for which we undertook a small survey of Jewish families in the area, visited Mosaic Jewish Primary School in Roehampton and met with officers of our local Education Authority who wondered why we didn’t already have such a school. After looking at the evidence, we felt that whether or not we continued with this project was a decision that should be made by members of the Jewish communities in Brighton & Hove. Talking with people informally over the months we found that while some supported the idea, others felt that, for one reason or another, it was not a viable proposition. We therefore decided to hold this meeting to give people an opportunity to hear the experiences and challenges of setting up the Mosaic School and provide a forum in which people felt free to express their views about establishing a similar school here. As the room began to fill up with people from across the four Jewish communities in the area including three of our rabbis, I detected a sense of eager anticipation amongst the participants. When I introduced Shirley Lee, the Founding Chair of Mosaic School, to give her presentation, I did not foresee how strongly her informative, fascinating and inspirational delivery would impact on the audience. While she articulated the benefits and joys of setting up Mosaic, she was very open about the challenges and the enormous amount of work and commitment it took to achieve their aims. She interspersed her delivery with clips of the school and its children and I could see the concentration on the faces of many people as they listened intently to what she had to say. After listening to Shirley’s comprehensive account of how the Mosaic school was founded, the attendees had the opportunity to express their personal views on the benefits and challenges of setting up a similar school in Brighton & Hove as well as asking questions about the project. Some of the views expressed about opening a school here were very moving: • “It would endure and enhance the future of Brighton & Hove Jewish life and perpetuate Jewish communities on the South Coast.” • “It would bring my faith to everyday life.” • “It could lessen prejudice as children do not have preconceived ideas and will learn about other cultures and build bridges between the Jewish and general communities.” • “The school will promote morals and beliefs as well as faith education.” • “It is a fundamental requirement in attracting Jewish families to the area.” ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 • “Having a school will motivate people to become more involved in the Jewish life of their community.” However, these challenges and practicalities were also explored and articulated: • “Acquiring a suitable site in the right location.” • “The politics of different faith groups.” • “The threat of antisemitism and the provision of adequate security.” • “Ensuring that other religions and beliefs are represented in the classroom.” • “The current lack of a Jewish secondary school in the area to which pupils could progress.” • “The widespread geographical area from which children may wish to access the school.” • “Attracting and inspiring young Jewish families to enrol their children at the school.” • “Apathy and declining population.” • “The availability of a sufficient number of young people in the community who have the energy, enthusiasm, expertise, commitment, time and inspiration to make this project successful.” As had been anticipated, these discussions evoked a strong interest in identifying a whole range of questions which needed to be answered - some of which were: • “What are the entry criteria?” • “Do children in similar cross-communal schools mix naturally or do they segregate themselves?” • “What would be the parental line defining the child’s Jewish identity?” • “Is there a sufficient number of Jewish children in the area?” • “What sort of funding is available to purchase a site, provide and maintain a school?” • “How can we find and use a core group of experts to help?” • “Will the school start at Reception or would all years be catered for initially?” • “Would all boys wear kippot regardless of their faith?” • “Could the school have a funded nursery?” • “How much involvement would the community need to have?” • “What can elderly people without children or grandchildren contribute to this project?” Within the time that was left, Shirley answered some of these questions in relation to the experiences of setting up the Mosaic School, but in the near future all of these questions will need to be addressed in respect of establishing a school in Brighton & Hove. The biggest surprise of the evening was the result of the questionnaire that those present completed and handed in at the very end of the meeting. The feedback that we received showed that 99% of people supported the founding of a Jewish school in the area. More importantly, of the 35 people who attended, fifteen agreed to be part of a Project Management Group and actively work towards achieving what the community has clearly chosen to support – a Jewish school in Brighton & Hove. This group will hold its first meeting on Tuesday 15th January. It will not be confined to those people who submitted their forms on the evening. Everyone who wishes to be a part of this project and who feels that they have specific skills, knowledge, experience and commitment will be made welcome, so that, together we may explore how we can develop and implement a strategy that will turn this communal vision into a successful reality. 6 Culture 7 Farewell Gaby’s by Gordon Kay Another Jewish London institution closed recently. Gaby’s Continental Deli, in the heart of theatreland, just down from Leicester Square station, closed its doors at the end of October. And another little piece of characterful Jewish London disappeared. At least this time it was on the owner’s terms. After 53 years of trading Gaby Eleyaho had decided to retire. And there was something of a prophet in his Middle Eastern Jewish cuisine when he opened his deli in 1965. It is said that he brought the falafel to Londoner’s palates. In an area of shabby sandwich bars it stood out, gaining many famous theatrical friends over the next five decades. They came to his aid in 2012, when the aristocratic landowner, the Marquess of Salisbury, wanted to replace Gaby’s with a more profit-inducing chain fast food restaurant. Theatre stars rallied to save the deli, with Simon Callow running a special falafel-themed theatre piece and Henry Goodman literally singing for his supper to keep it open. Even Vanessa Redgrave brought her best campaigning skills to keep it open. They succeeded. I went there from the late 80s, remembering the first occasion sometime after my bar mitzvah, so it felt like some kind of additional rite of passage. The wonderful thing is that the food was always the same and of the same quality. And while you sat there enjoying the meal, you looked at the number of signed posters and photos of stars, from Jackie Mason to Matt Damon. For me, it was its reliability that made it special: you were never disappointed and the staff were always warm and welcoming, which is not something you can say about every Jewish restaurant. It also expressed an unfussy expression of Jewish culture, in the same way that its near neighbour, Bar Italia, expressed for Italian culture with its coffee and cakes. As it happened, I had one more chance to dine the day before it closed its doors. The falafel and pita were as I always remember. Falafel made with bulgar wheat, vibrant salads and great hummus. My only regret is that I did not have one of his fine latkes, I was just too full. It was as busy as ever, packed with customers, each thanking Gaby personally for his work as they paid at the counter. It is a pity no one could see the potential in taking it over, but now falafel is available in Asda and Tesco, it is probably ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 not seen as being so special. With rents so high in London, I guess some chain will take the place, but we shall all have the memories. We sometimes think that Jewish history and heritage is in buildings, like shuls and community centres, but our culture is richer than that. As Gaby’s joins the collective memory like Solly’s and Bloom’s, we should remember that their stories and our memories of them should be recorded. Such as one about a man who brought falafel to theatreland and won celebrity and Londoners’ hearts. Enjoy your retirement, Gaby. SUSSEX JEWISH FILM CLUB AND THE JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY (SUSSEX BRANCH) Present a Special Evening for Jewish History Month at Ralli Hall. On Sunday 10th MARCH 2019 PHIL GRABSKY - 35 YEARS IN FILM MAKING Programme for the evening: 7.30pm Light Refreshments (Tea, Coffee & Biscuits) 8.00 Presentation 9.00 Any Questions? 9.30 Conclude Free to Ralli Hall and JHSE Members. Visitors £5.00 Contacts: Film Club David Bresh dbresh@icloud.com JHSE: Michael Crook amcrook321@gmail.com Parking at Hove Station Car Park Cost £2.15 8 Culture 9 GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem On Sunday 3rd February, we will be showing GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem. This 2014 film received many global awards. The film is the third in a trilogy by celebrated brother/sister duo, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and is about an unhappily married woman, Viviane Amsalem. She seeks a divorce, but finds out just how difficult it can be for Jewish women to obtain a Gett from the religious court in Israel. Her husband refuses his permission to a divorce and thereby she cannot be granted a Gett. This results in a host of trials and tribulations over a five- year span. A suspenseful film mostly filmed inside the court room. Free to Ralli Hall members and full-time students, otherwise £4. For more information contact David Bresh at breshdavid1@gmail.com. East Preston Remembers its Jewish Residents by Nicholas Beck If one asked in London or even Brighton & Hove, there are many who would not know of East Preston, a leafy village on the West Sussex coast between Worthing and Littlehampton. From a Jewish point of view, the same is true about general knowledge of Israel Zangwill and his wife Edith Ayrton. However, both are people very worthy of being known and remembered. The Sussex Jewish Outreach Group and West Sussex Jewish Community were invited to take part in the unveiling of a plaque to their memory. From a Jewish point of view both Israel Zangwill stands with the greatest and his wife not far behind. His parents were immigrants but Israel was born in London in 1864. He went to the Jewish Free School in East London and then to London University where he was awarded BA with honours in English, French, and Mental and Moral Science. He was foremost an author; Zangwill’s work earned him the nickname, ‘the Dickens of the Ghetto’. He wrote a very influential novel, The Children of the Ghetto, which is available as an audio book on YouTube, as are his books, The Melting Pot - a play - and the King of Schnorrers. However, if he was famous as a writer, he was more influential as one of the leading Zionists of the day. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 In 1901 in the periodical New Liberal Review, Zangwill wrote “Palestine is a country without a people; the Jews are a people without a country”. In the UK in 1895 he introduced Theodor Herzl to supporters from Anglo-Jewry and was a supporter of Herzl until Herzl’s death. He was put off by the reaction of the Arab population in Jerusalem and thought that the Jews moving in to Palestine would be sitting targets. He founded his own Jewish Territorial Organisation (the ITO) which sought other remedies, such as land in Uganda, or the United States or Canada. His greatest ITO success was in working with Jacob Schiff on the Galveston Plan, which brought 10,000 immigrants to the United States between 1907 and 1914. Israel Zangwill died in 1926 in Midhurst. Although we know the development of the Zionist cause eventually delivered the State of Israel, Zangwill should be remembered, and his writings are well worth discovering. Zangwill’s second wife, Edith Ayrton, is famous in her own right as a fighter for Jewish Women’s rights and suffrage. She married Zangwill in 1903. Because of ill health she felt she could not be a militant suffragette but she and her stepmother joined the Women’s Social and Political Union and in 1912, she helped to found the Jewish League for Women’s Suffrage. 8 Holocaust Memorial Day 2019 9 Holocaust Memorial Day at The University of Sussex Centre German-Jewish for Studies Jubilee Lecture Theatre, Jubilee Building, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9SL Holocaust Memorial Day TORN FROM HOME 1:30 pm Welcome • Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sussex Frida Gustafsson, President, University of Sussex Students’ Union Michael Newman, Chief Executive, The Association of Jewish Refugees • Gideon Reuveni, Director, Centre for German-Jewish Studies 1:45 pm Professor Richard Overy, Professor of History, University of Exeter • ‘September 1939 and the Fate of Europe’s Jews’ • Chair: Liz James, Head of School of History, Art History Wednesday 6 February 2019 and Philosophy Jubilee Lecture Theatre | Jubilee Building | University of Sussex | Brighton | BN1 9SL 2:45 pm Short break 3:00 pm Detective Chief Superintendent Nick May will light a memorial candle designed by Anish Kapoor and say a few words on behalf of Sussex Police. 3:05 pm Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, one of the founders of the English Chamber Orchestra 4.30 pm Film: HOME MOVIE by award- survived Auschwitz as a member of the woman’s winning documentary film-maker orchestra. She has spent the past 30 years lecturing Caroline Pick in Germany as a warning for the future. Chair: Nicola Glucksmann, Documentary Niklas Frank’s father was Dr Hans Frank, Governor Producer and Jungian Analyst of Nazi occupied Poland. He has completely repudiated his father and spends his time warning new generations about the future. This film has been selected for several prestigious international Jewish Film Festivals: London, Jerusalem, Toronto, San Francisco, The two will be in conversation, chaired by Trudy New York, Berlin and Moscow. Gold, Director of Holocaust Studies, JW3, Jewish Community Centre, London Following the showing of the film, Caroline Pick will be in conversation with Nicola 4.00 pm Refreshments in G30 Social Space, Jubilee Glucksmann followed by a Q and A. Building ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 10 Holocaust Reflections 11 The Great Escape A true and honest account of Kate Atkins’ escape from the Holocaust - her words were taken down by Gweni Sorokin and Harry Atkins, her daughter and son. Early in 1939 things were very bad in Germany for the Jews and so my husband and I decided to emigrate to South America. Shortly before we were due to leave the country we received a telegram from the South American authorities stating that refugees were no longer being allowed into the country. Whilst we were deciding what to do my husband was arrested by the Gestapo and even though I managed to get him out by proving that we were about to leave Germany, he had to flee the country very quickly and England seemed the only place to go. When he got here he immediately joined the British army and soon got permission for his wife to join him. Two weeks before war broke out I started my journey across Europe. From Berlin the train made its way to Aachen, the German/Belgian border. We arrived late at night and were ordered off the train and into the customs shed. All our passports and travel documents were taken away and I even had to surrender my watch and wedding ring while the luggage was being searched. You had to have a list of everything you were taking with you, and if anything else was discovered in your baggage or on your person it was immediately confiscated. Then, one by one, we were taken into a small room for a body search. While waiting I got into a conversation with a woman who was also travelling to England with her small son. We were all cold and tired but had to wait patiently on the platform. When my turn came the customs officer in charge of searching the women did a very strange thing. She told me not to bother about the search, but, as we had to allow some time to elapse before I returned, we chatted. She returned my documents and asked about my husband in England, and did I want to see him again? What a stupid question: of course I wanted to be with him, but, just as importantly, I wanted to get out of Germany. She then told me that at 5.00 a.m. a train was due at the station, the boat train going on to Dover. It stopped only long enough to throw out the mail sacks, but unless I was on that train I would be returned to Berlin and certain death. I was to tell no-one as spies were all around and she would be in big trouble if she was found out. I went back to the waiting room and the woman I had been speaking to before asked about my encounter with the customs lady. I wasn’t going to say anything but when I saw the face of her little boy I motioned her to follow me outside. In the middle of the platform, away from everybody, I told her about the in-coming train. I warned her not to breathe a word to anyone, even her son, and when the time was near we would walk out again onto the platform on the pretext of getting some fresh air. She was worried about her luggage but I couldn’t have cared less. We had the opportunity to escape with our lives. Nothing else really mattered. A few minutes before 5 o’clock we were ready and waiting. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 The train pulled in, scarcely coming to a complete halt. The woman jumped on, I handed her boy up to her then jumped aboard myself. I still had one foot on the platform as the train started to move out of the station. The last thing I remember seeing were the faces of the doomed passengers still in the waiting-room. All I had with me were the clothes on my back and the equivalent of 50p in my pocket. I sat back with a sigh of relief. There were no more Nazis now... this was a Belgian train travelling to Dover with Belgian porters checking our papers. Apparently, this was the last train leaving Aachen for the foreseeable future. When this news sank in I sobbed my heart out. After years of living in fear of my life I was finally safe. Anyone else trying a similar route later on was going to be sent back to a death camp simply because they had tried to escape. I think I must have had a guardian angel watching over me all that time. Finally, we reached Ostend. More customs officials but this time it wasn’t so frightening. All that was asked was where were we going and what was the purpose of our visit? Then the ferry sailed. During the crossing I had time to reflect on the miracles that had happened so far. All my fellow passengers were in similar circumstances, so when the ship was in sight of the cliffs of Dover, we all came out on deck to watch the English coastline approaching. Some people cheered, some sang, a lot cried but all of us were thankful to God. As the boat was going through the process of docking I heard all kinds of strange sounds coming from the harbour. Imagine my feelings when I learned that the port was, in fact, being sealed off as the rumours of war were now very strong. No more boats would be landing at Dover. Suddenly I was standing on British soil and there, beyond the barrier, was my beloved husband eagerly awaiting my arrival. He had had no way of knowing the exact time I would get to England but had put his faith in my determination and in God that we would be together again. I don’t think I could ever describe those first precious moments. Lots of hugging, kissing and weeping: both of us so grateful to the Almighty for our reunion. I have lived in this country for more than forty years now: I became a naturalised British citizen as soon as possible after my arrival. My husband served in the British army for the duration of the war. Both our children were born and raised here, as were my grandchildren. Since coming to England I have travelled to many other countries, including South America, where I might have lived had things been different. In my opinion this is the best country in the world where one can be truly free. I regard myself as a British subject and proud of it. I hope you all realise how lucky you are to be English - I certainly do. 10 Holocaust Reflections 11 Reflections by Rabbi Charles Wallach Though life forces us to move on to the next event in Armistice Day. Instead, I willingly went to London to our calendar - currently Chanukah and all that pertains attend the very moving service in Westminster Abbey to it, allow me to give a personal reflection on some of commemorating the end of the First World War. As the what I was able to experience over the weekend that Senior Rabbi of the Movement for Reform Judaism, had us observe the eightieth anniversary of Kristallnacht my colleague Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner had other and the centenary of the Armistice ending the First duties and I offered to deputise. As those who may World War. have seen the service on television could testify, it was Although unable to attend the complete programme at the Progressive synagogue relating to Kristallnacht, I joined my wife in hearing Marguerite Mendelssohn speaking about her own experiences of Kristallnacht. It is a topic I know well as my own grandparents were more than an occasion - the readings, the involvement of the President of Germany alongside Prince Charles and other readers expressed the complexity of the folly of war but the need, nevertheless, to be determined to stand up to naked aggression. caught up in it. Indeed, in responding to Marguerite’s As if to illustrate that further, prior to entering the clear and deeply personal presentation, I mused on one Abbey I joined the throngs watching the march past aspect of the Holocaust that is often brushed aside. and the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph. But just Although my immediate family were able to rebuild as impressive and probably staying with me, is the their lives in South Africa after escaping Germany in memory of walking in the courtyard outside the Abbey. the 1930s, I grew up with only a hazy knowledge of the There, each of the units that made up the British and much wider family that existed post war in countries Commonwealth forces had areas in which markers as spread out as the United States, Argentina, Israel, bedecked with a single poppy recalled lives of lost Holland, Switzerland, Denmark and even Germany servicemen and women. Most of these markers were itself. Indeed, in 1985, on the fiftieth anniversary of the of course crosses, but two sections side by side were founding of the Central British Fund for World Jewish solely made up of Magen Davids. One, the Gedud Ha Relief - now known as WJR - as I sat hearing the Ivri - the Jewish Brigade that emanated chiefly out of speakers and looking at the guest booklet, I noticed Palestine under the Mandate, and the other AJEX. In the name of a distant relative: It took another twenty the latter was a complete list of numbers of Jews who years and the opening of an exhibition of the work of had fought in both world wars and others. In all, over one branch of our family to get the bulk of the family a million and a half in both world wars: A testament together. surely of who we are and of our determination to play But that sense of determination to overcome these huge pitfalls which war created, was well expressed our full part in society - and maintain ourselves in the process. in the first of two films presented at the Progressive synagogue’s event. It was a documentary in which various survivors of Kristallnacht or, more exactly, those who got to Britain via the Kindertransport, spoke. Their stories are well known but worthy of repetition. Two were known to me, Bob and Anne Kirk, who lived in London for decades. And both are testament to that determination as they not only settled in this land, but became positive influences, both becoming leading Top Hat Productions figures in Liberal Judaism, with Bob serving as Chair of Leo Baeck College some decades ago. The second film was a docu-drama on the Irving trial – the canard that David Irving tried to expound Presents ‘Love Notes’ featuring lots of lovely songs from the shows that the Holocaust was a myth. Though again the story was known, presenting in the way it was, was captivating of itself. And again, the determined effort of those involved - author Deborah Lipstadt (whom I had the pleasure of meeting a number of years ago), lawyer Anthony Julius and the whole legal team, and the charts at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 12th January 2019 at 7.30 pm 13th January at 2.30 pm Tickets £10 Adults was testament to what can be done when all seems otherwise. £6 for under 12s. Contact Laura on 01273 722173. This year I was not at the local observances on ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 12 Holocaust Reflections 13 Torn from their Homes – Kinder at Burgess Hill 80 years ago by Lesley Urbach At the end of December 1938, the Grand Order Sons of Jacob, a Jewish friendly society, agreed to accommodate and financially support 50 girls, who had arrived or were arriving on the Kindertransport, at the Wyberlye Ladies Convalescent Home in Burgess Hill. Amongst these girls were my mother and aunt, Eva (16) and Ulli (13) Wohl. Each Lodge agreed to provide £1 a week to support one child (approximately £50 today.) Some members donated food, shoes and clothes. Kosher chickens were delivered to the home on Fridays. The convalescent home continued to operate and its matron looked after the children. Eva R wrote: ‘It was a nice residence, the gardens and the putting green and the tennis court. Our rooms were cold because the little gas light did not give much heat and we had 3 doubled blankets on top of us, but I was not unhappy there.’ Alice referred to the shock she felt, “coming into a home where everybody spoke German and English. And we didn’t speak a word of either. They thought we were little hicks because they were all from big cities. But we adjusted quickly. We had all kinds of nice things in the home. We lived at the back of the big house. There were about eight of us to a room. We ate our meals in the main building which was very elegant. We received 6 pence pocket money each week. It was used mainly for stamps to write home”. The children, aged between 8 and 17, had different religious backgrounds and upbringings. My mother said they all got on as they spent the most difficult time of their lives together. The children were well cared for: Eva R wrote, “I do remember the ladies who were convalescing there treating us to chocolates and ice cream”. Alice wrote, “The dining room was beautiful. Places were set for breakfast just in the best style you can imagine, and next to each setting there was a banana or a piece of fruit for breakfast and cereal. I mean I had never seen things like that in my village”. The older children helped in the house and the ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 younger children attended local schools. Lotte complained that she was expected to study Shakespeare when she just wanted to learn English and she hated the country dancing lessons, “We were dancing in circles. Everything was so foreign to us. Everything was so different. And it takes a while. You learn the language quickly but the other habits were so different and we had to get used to it”. And Alice, “we did not learn anything. We just copied words from the blackboard”. The matron was strict, telling the girls that there was no such phrase as ‘I can’t’, only ‘I will try,’ and insisting that the girls speak only English, withdrawing their pocket money if they contravened this rule. However, Eva R still has the doll that the matron gave her. Lotte commented, “We were treated very strictly but we were well taken care of. The food was kosher. The food was awful, not at all what we were used to. I especially remember tapioca pudding and oat meal in the morning”. The children had to walk around the town on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and my mother complained that there was little to do in Burgess Hill. My aunt remembers going to the cinema occasionally. Other children learned how to play tennis. A rabbi came from London to take Shabbat services. The children missed and worried about their parents. Several, including my mother, looked in the telephone directory for people with the same surname to contact to ask them to help their family come to England. M. Wohl didn’t answer my mother’s letter. Letters were exchanged before the war. My mother had one phone call. During the war they sent and received telegrams through the Red Cross but were restricted to 25 words. Lotte commented on the futility of being taught how to make dolls when everybody worried where their parents were, particularly once the war started. Alice recalled “going to the village on a Saturday morning to buy myself a little candy. As I was walking towards a store, I saw a father walking with his little girl holding hands. It broke my heart and I started to cry bitterly remembering walking with my father. From then on I did not go to the village on Saturdays”. The Grand Order raised £1,095 (approximately worth £50,000 today) to build extra accommodation for the children. There was an open day on 1 June 1939 when the new building was consecrated by Rabbi Lew from Highgate Synagogue. Donations from the Lodges declined after the war began, a matter of concern to the Executive Committee. The military authorities requisitioned the Home in early February 1941 and the children were returned to the Refugee Children’s Movement and the Polish Jewish Refugee organisation to be rehoused elsewhere. There was no further mention of the children in the Grand Order’s minutes. During their time at Wyberlye House the children were well treated, but this was not the experience of many who came on the Kindertransport. The majority of the children never saw their parents again. A plaque is to be placed near the site of the Home in the summer of 2019. 12 Features 13 Zeh Rak Da’ati - 4 by Godfrey R Gould “Walking home alone after Cheder.” there were the Ben Gurion University Foundation (Secretary), Although I was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne I spent the first eight years of my life in Sunderland. Ours was a Jewish home. Friday night was Friday night, candles, Kiddush and challahs, baked at home by my mother (all our bread was baked at home). On Shabbos and Yom-tov morning I would stand (or sit) beside my father - no playing; Shul was for prayer not play. JACS (founder Vice-Chairman), Book Fairs (twice Chairman), Welfare Board (19 years), Representative Council (two stints for different organisations), Jewish Historical Society (sundry posts and now Hon. President) and I still go to Shul regularly. For some decades I was a guide at Middle Street Synagogue. Earlier this year I was declared surplus to requirements but I have now been asked to resume that role! And now I undertake And from the age of five I went on the tram to school, on the same function at Florence Place Cemetery. For seven the other side of Sunderland. My mother thought the local years I was co-editor of the “Shofar” our Shul magazine. And I school was too rough. How she got me into the one I went have co-edited and partially written the definitive history of the to I do not know and I’m not sure it was any less rough. On Brighton and Hove Jewish Community. As you are reading this Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (about 4.30 pm) then you’ll be aware that I do write much for this and sundry I would return home, getting off the tram at the stop before other outlets, in print and on-line. mine, to go to Cheder for an hour and a half (as well as two hours on Sunday morning). After Cheder I would walk home by myself, a part of the journey being along a road called The Cedars. It seemed very remote with a high wall on the far side and big houses set well back behind more high walls on the near. Alongside the path there were naturally cedars, enormous cedars. On a winter’s evening it seemed to me that the shadows of the trees cast by the street lights were giants coming to get me. It was a fearful walk. Eventually it got the better of me and one evening my little six-year-old self could go no further. I stood rooted to the spot terrified and started to cry. But a kindly policeman on patrol (they did that in those days) noted my plight and holding my hand took me home. And it all started with those giants as I walked home alone from Cheder when I was five. Somehow, I managed all this without going to any Jewish Day School. Indeed, I don’t know if they really existed or were even needed in my younger days. Life then was so much different with few of the distractions and opportunities that are available to young people today. But I do wonder if we may be in danger of losing the Jewish Heritage and way of life to which I was accustomed? I don’t know. Whatever happened to those like my mother and so many more who came before us and who set us such meaningful examples? Maybe you should simply ignore me - perhaps I’m really just another angry old man? If I thought that I wouldn’t have to walk home alone again (and I don’t think I did) my solitary journeys continued and I swiftly learned that trees are not giants about to get little Jewish boys. But on 3 September 1939 a real giant appeared: Adolf Hitler upset my routine by invading Poland. Between then and 1945 Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove I lived in seven different homes and went to eight different schools. Sometimes I would go to Shul and sometimes Cheder, depending where we lived, but always to school. When I was ten, we lived with my grandmother in Newcastle and then I went to everything, even a Shiur with our Rabbi on Shabbos afternoon. The following year we had moved to a suburb of It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. Newcastle well away from the Jewish areas, to be near the For further information or to request an application form Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Neptune Shipyard where my father was then required to work. But I still went to Cheder four times a week and to Shul on Shabbos morning, please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com but without my father. When Rabbi Rabinowitz discovered that I came to Shul on the bus, he told my mother that if I had to use the bus it would be better I did not come! Her reply is a classic, “What would you rather Godfrey do on Shabbos morning - play in the streets with the goyim? Godfrey should know that on Shabbos morning he should be in Shul, and Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove that’s where he’s going to be”. It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom By 1945 life returned to what to me became normal. I went unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. to University (ultimately three), and when I was 21 I became a The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot member of the Shul - it was simply what I expected to do. And water; use of garden; television and telephone points. within about five years I was Hon. Secretary of the Shul. As I moved about the country I was not as involved as I had been. But when I moved to Brighton (Hove, actually) 53 years ago, I joined New Church Road Shul and became involved in sundry communal activities. I was on the Shul Board for a few years For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com (an object lesson in how not to run any committee!) and then ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 14 Rep Council 15 SJRC Lording it up The Chair Team of the SJRC, together with other leaders from British Jewry, was invited to a Chanukah Reception at the House of Lords on December 3rd. The event was hosted by the Board of Deputies and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews. Guest speaker was Angela Rayner, Shadow Education Minister. Chief Rabbi Mirvis lit the Chanukah candles in front of a packed audience. Also present was Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism and Rabbi Danny Rich, Senior Rabbi and Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism. Chanukah at Number 10 by Beryl Sharpe During November I received an invitation from the Prime Winton’s daughter, Lady Grenfell-Baines, who herself came Minister, Theresa May, to attend a Chanukah reception. A wet to England on the Kindertransport. Mark Regev, the Israeli and murky Monday 3rd of December dawned and I was almost Ambassador, said he remembered fondly his trip to Brighton paralysed with nerves at the thought of having to walk down and enquired whether or not the BDS were still demonstrating Downing Street to number 10 on my own. outside Ralli Hall. I met a lady from Stamford Hill who works Having been to The House of Lords with the chair team, now it was me alone! Thankfully Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner was walking my way and we walked Whitehall together. with people who have Crohn’s and colitis but cannot for various reasons talk about it. Although ultra-religious, she is determined that these debilitating illnesses should be talked about and that no one should suffer in silence. Having gone through security, I walked up to number 10 where the policeman opened the door and there I was, quite unbelievably, inside the Prime Ministerial residence! Mobiles were taken, coats and bags hung up and then we walked up the famous staircase lined with pictures of past prime ministers with festive decorations intertwining the beautiful balustrades. Gradually, people from all walks of life, different religions, charity workers, MPs, Rabbonim, The Israeli Ambassador The Chief Rabbi lit the Chanukah lights and spoke movingly about the Kindertransport ‘children’ who were with us. We were then entertained by some of the children from Matilda Marks school. Unfortunately Mrs May was still debating Brexit in the House of Commons so she couldn’t attend the reception, but the Secretary of State spoke of the Prime Minister’s support for the Jewish Community and her anguish at the anti-Semitism that is and so many interesting people filled the 3 magnificent inter- growing in this country. connecting rooms with genuine delight to be included in such a special event. The food kept coming: the latkes and doughnuts were amazing! When it was time to leave I wanted to bottle and keep tight the memories of such a special two hours and I felt truly humbled and overwhelmed that I had been invited to 10 Downing Street I was privileged to spend time with Barbara Winton, Nicolas to represent the Brighton & Hove Jewish Community. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 Mark Regev, Israeli Ambassador SJRC Chair Team at the House of Lords 14 Rep Council 15 Sussex Jewish Community Helping the Homeless After appealing for donations of sanitary products and toiletries from the community we have been astounded by the contributions made so far. Within a few days of the appeal going out the products started arriving at the collection point. A large cupboard was quickly filled and bags of female and male products were made up. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 On an extremely wet November night we were ready to venture out into Brighton & Hove city centres to start our first distribution. Beryl Sharpe, Sarah Wilks, Grace Myers and Simon Seligman packed the boot of a car with the bags we had collected and with much trepidation we were on our way. We received amazing thanks and appreciation from the men and women who received our contributions and it really felt that we were carrying out an amazing Mitzvah. The homeless seemed to really welcome the practical items that we were able to donate. We are looking to carry on this project on an ongoing basis and are looking for volunteers who would be willing to give up a few hours every few weeks to distribute the bags to the homeless. Please contact Sarah on 01273 327763 or Beryl on 01273 734300 to volunteer. PLEASE KEEP THE PRODUCTS COMING Toothpaste, Brushes, Deodorants, Sanitary Pads, Cleaning Wipes, Soap, Razors, Shaving Foam, Shampoo, Chocolate, Power Bars, Scarves, Socks etc. PLEASE DELIVER YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:- ODM, 235-237, HANGLETON ROAD, HOVE, BN3 7LR Mon-Fri 9.00 -5.30 Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW WEBSITE: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org 16 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 17 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Remembering Lily Montagu, z’l by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah January is generally a dreary month in the northern living as a committed Jew in the modern world. In January hemisphere. And yet, set at the heart of winter, January also 1899, she published an essay in the Jewish Quarterly ushers in new beginnings. Across the world, the Jewish Review, entitled, ‘Spiritual Possibilities of Judaism Today’, people mark Tu Bishvat, the 15th day of the month of Sh’vat which encapsulated the worldview of Liberal Judaism. She with the New Year for Trees – Rosh Ha-Shanah La-Ilanot – wrote: “Together we must sift, with all reverence the pure as in Israel, the almond blossom appears on the trees. This from the impure in the laws which our ancestors formulated year, Tu Bishvat falls on Sunday, 20th January. And then, in order to satisfy the needs of the age...” a week later, on National Holocaust Memorial Day, we will recall the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army on 27th January 1945, which marked the beginning of the end of the Sho’ah. The commitment to respond positively to ‘the needs of the age’ became a cornerstone of Liberal Judaism, which first found organisational expression in February 1902 with the establishment of the Jewish Religious Union. Open In late December, I was conscious of a much less familiar to all Jews interested in reflecting on how to live as Jews date: the 145th anniversary of the birth of Lily Montagu, one today, services were held on Shabbat afternoons to enable of the three founders of Liberal Judaism, who was born on Jews of all denominations to attend. However, by 1909, 22nd December 1873. Lily Montagu died in 1963, at the opposition from some Orthodox quarters led to the decision age of 89, and between Tu Bishvat and National Holocaust to reformulate the JRU as a movement dedicated to the Memorial Day, on 22nd January, it will be her yahrzeit. ‘Advancement of Liberal Judaism’. Limitation of space allows me to share just a few key In the years that followed, Lily Montagu helped to found highlights from her life. At the age of 20, together with her Liberal synagogues around the country and in 1928 became elder sister Marion (1868-1965), and their cousin, Beatrice lay minister of the West Central Synagogue, a position she Franklin (1871-1959), who later married Herbert Samuel held until her death in 1963. In 1925, she helped found the (1870-1963), Lily Montagu founded the West Central Jewish World Union for Progressive Judaism and was responsible Girls Club. The aim of the club was to give working-class for running the WUPJ from 1926 through 1959, including Jewish girls the opportunity to develop themselves through organising its international conferences; the first of which classes, concerts and outings – and also through Shabbat was held in Berlin in 1928. Today, the WUPJ is the largest services which she led. During this time, Lily also led global Jewish organisation with affiliates around the world, services for children at the West Central Synagogue. including, in this country, both Liberal Judaism and the It was also during this time that Lily Montagu met the Jewish scholar, Claude Montefiore (1858-1938), whose vision of Liberal Judaism mirrored her own approach to Movement for Reform Judaism. Zichronah livrachah – May her memory be for a blessing; a source of continual blessing as we respond to ‘the needs of the age’ in the 21st-century. Events @ BHPS Third Season of Sunday Lectures and Lunches. 11.30 am - Welcome drink on arrival 12.00 to 1.00 pm - Lecture by guest speaker and Q&A session 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm - Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee Only £22.50 per person. Non-members and their friends welcome 27 January: Sir Anthony Seldon - ‘300 years of Premiership in Britain’. How the job of ‘PM’ has evolved over the last three centuries, particularly in recent times. Sunday 24 February: Dr Aviva Deutsch – ‘The Remarkable Isaac Rosenberg: WW1 Poet and Painter’ See our website for the full series programme and booking details. Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. January 11: Dr Deborah Pencharz: ‘Nuclear Medicine’. How radioactivity can help diagnose disease. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli is open to all those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. The curriculum draws on Jewish texts (e.g. Torah, TaNaKH, Mishnah, Talmud, ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 Siddur & Machzor) and includes an exploration of the differences between Liberal Judaism and other Jewish denominations. The course includes the festivals and commemorative days as they come up. Classes are held on Shabbat from 2.15-3.45 pm, after the Access to Hebrew class. No class will be held on 5 January 2019. Unit 3: Doing Judaism 12 January: Tz’dakah & G’milut Chasadim 19 January: Tu Bishvat seder will be held in place of classes, 1.00-2.30 pm 26 January: Finding your way through the Siddur 2 February: Finding your way through the Chumash Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli is held on Shabbat afternoons, 1.00 to 2.00 pm. Are you interested in being able to read and understand the Hebrew Bible or the prayer book? This class is open to students of all levels – from total beginners to those wishing to study classical Hebrew grammar and/or prepare a Torah reading. Students work on their own or in chavruta (pairs), with input and support from Rabbi Elli. To join the class, please contact the synagogue at info@bhps-online.org Open Wednesdays - BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11.00 am – 4.00 pm for social activities. These include scrabble, chess, bridge, kalooki, exercise classes, computer training, access to the library and crafts. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. 16 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 17 BrightonReform Pizzaid by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Sderot, Israel, first week of December 2018: Little Shmuel is tired of his military service. Of course, it is important to serve in the Army of the Jewish State. The memory of the pogrom in Algeria, which Safta survived, is enough to remind him of the importance of having a Jewish State. Nonetheless, military life can be terribly boring. The silence is depressing. Yes, he has a smartphone, with all the radio stations of the world available, but let’s face it, would you really want to listen to the BBC, where every other day Israeli soldiers like Shmuel are portrayed as bloodthirsty monsters and day in and day out some pompous academic, perhaps even Jewish, lectures the world on alternatives to the two states solution? But wait. What’s that? Pizza? For me? Sababah! that is great. And there is a card. “We are grateful for all that you do! Greetings from New York” New York? thinks Shmuel. When this service is over I want to visit New York. Safta has a cousin in New York. And on that night in Sderot, little Shmuel felt less alone. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 Some weeks before, in England: I’d really rather not be drawn into these arguments, thought the Rabbi. But his American colleague was desperate for his opinion. “This actor” says the friend “Nice fellow, but... I mean, he is great. Campaign for the immigrants, you get the idea. Unfortunately, ten years ago or so, he tweeted some anti- Semitic rubbish, like “Jews brought the USA to war in Iraq, Jews are the ruin of this Country.” “Wow, disgusting.” “Now a journalist has uncovered the tweets ... but the actor regrets, you know? He wants to apologise, he is a different person now... What do you think?” “Well, I think he should do something, to prove that he really is a different person. His actions have caused damage and damage must be repaired. You know, Jewish ethics is not about the intention, but about action, facts. “And which sort of reparation do you suggest?” “Let me think... I have an idea... this guy probably was not so fond of Zionism when he tweeted that rubbish. Now hopefully he understands Israel... and there is this web site, http://pizzaidf.org Job acancy ccountant/eperienced Bookkeeper required: ◊ o keep books and manage the returns for our Redevelopment proect ◊ his task will be remunerated and should take, after set-up, perhaps a few hours per month. If you are interested please reply to Peter os by email to: finance@bh-rs.org Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue - Palmeira Avenue Hove East Sussex. BN3 3GE - Tel: 01273 735343 Bulletin Board – January Friday 4 Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 5 Shabbat morning service led by Jason, 10.30 am Cheder Havdalah, 3.30 pm Saturday 12 Book Club - ‘Three Floors Up’ by Eshkol Nevo, 9.15 am Shabbat morning service led by Tony, 10.30 am Saturday 19 Shabbat morning service led by Steve, 10.30 am Shabbat Shalom Yeladim, 10.30 am Sunday 20 Tu B’Shvat Cheder including Tu B’Shvat seder, 9.30 am Saturday 26 Shabbat morning service led by Jason, 10.30 am (The diary is subject to change) *** Please book your place by calling the Shul Office 18 19 Why? by Rabbi Hershel RaderISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org Imagine you own something really precious and wish to pass it on to someone else, what kind of person would you give it to? Would you give it to someone who would cherish and care for it or someone who might neglect and forget about it? This is the question the angels in heaven asked G-d before He gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, one of the most pivotal events in our history - recorded in Yitro, the last Sidra this month. The Rabbis tell us that when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah the angels challenged the Almighty claiming that they should be the ones to receive this gift. After all, a doctrine that contains Divine wisdom belongs in heaven where it will be appreciated fully. The response was that the Torah contains a code of moral and ethical conduct and perspectives, fresh attitudes and discovering hidden strengths of character that we never knew we possessed. Angels are holy beings that are never tempted and never have the need to experience change. As G-d said to them ‘do you have wives that you can be unfaithful to?’ We humans, who are faced with temptation, are forced to dig deeper into our souls to discover fresh methods and strength to withstand temptation. We are forced to fortify our value system by constant reflection and self-education. We have the opportunity of being totally different than we were yesterday, last week or last month. By immersing ourselves in the Torah and pursuing its values we involve ourselves in a continuing creative process. With all our frailty and flaws, we are the recipients of G-d’s Torah. Let us make sure to use it well. can only be given to those that have an inclination to break that code. Only those that are tempted to steal, commit adultery and lie are appropriate recipients of the Torah. This seems a strange argument. Why would Our Weekly Shiurim G-d want to give His treasure specifically to those that are tempted to abuse it? Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. The Zohar, the fundamental treatise of Jewish Wednesdays, 12.30-1.30 pm. Mysticism, teaches that the Torah is much more than a book of rules. It is the blueprint of creation, the tool Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. G-d used to create a new realm of existence. When Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur. He decided to part with the Torah and give it away, He (no charge). still wanted it to be used as a creative tool. By using the teachings of the Torah, not just as a code of good conduct, but as an implement of real change, it is also a form of creation. When we experience real growth, improving and refining our personality and making Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). space for G-d to enter our existence, we become new people, realising the full potential of the Torah. Real change can only come when there is challenge BHHC Events to April 2019 and temptation. It comes from breaking out of our status quo and comfort zone, seeking alternative Catered Lunch & Learn Monthly on Wednesdays at 12.15 pm 9 January, 6 February, 6 March, 3 April Featuring a three course lunch – cost £7.50 Want to save money on your Monthly Friday Night Dinners Home / Business Expenses with a Which? Recommended supplier? 18 January at 5.45 pm 22 February at 6.30 pm (provisional time) 15 March at 7.00 pm (provisional time) Cost £15.00 - Spaces limited Contact David Schaverien Tel: 01273 779001 Pesach Seder Friday 19 April Email: theschav@uwclub.net Please call the shul office 01273 888855 to book or for further information 18 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 19 New Year Revelations by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer On the night of this 1 January / New years’ Day 2019 (25 Tevet), I shall celebrate my birthday. Don’t all jump with vintage bottles of champagne, chocolates and flowers please, it is wholly unnecessary. It does beg the question as to the true significance of a birthday and whether or not it has any real importance. The ‘birthday’ subject has been rather exhausted and Rabbinical responses in various formats can be found all over the Internet. What I would care to focus on is the concept of ‘Gilgul’. Otherwise known in common parlance as ‘Reincarnation’ and obviously related to the day of one’s birth, the topic is vast and the details could fill tomes many times over. Perhaps a brief overview will act to inspire further investigation. To the best of my knowledge, a belief in the ‘Gilgul’ (Literally translated as ‘cycle’ or ‘wheel’) of the human soul is, in our era, common knowledge and basic to Jewish philosophy. Having said that, it is not an essential element of our belief system and would not constitute an affront to Judaism’s basic tenets should one choose to reject it. The migration of souls and their myriad segments has been delineated in the work ‘Shaar HaGilgulim’ (Gate of Reincarnations) compiled by Rabbi Hayyim Vital, which relays the teachings of his Master the ‘Ari HaKadosh’ (The Holy Lion), Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572) of Blessed Memory. He was the 16th century Kabbalist and mystic par excellence who lifted the lid on both the theoretical and practical Kabbalah, never previously revealed. He founded the doctrines of Lurianic Kabbalah as part of what he perceived to be the metaphysical purpose of Creation and his fame spread throughout the Jewish world effecting global Jewish practice, despite the fact that he died at the relatively very young age of 38! Indeed, he is buried in the Holy city of Safed in the Galilee and his tomb is a destination for pilgrimage unto this day. In the work ‘Shaar HaGilgulim’ (which can now be found in several English translations), an oeuvre primarily geared to the already mystically initiated, Vital builds on the Kabbalistic foundations set out by his Masters’ predecessor Rabbi Moses Cordovero and takes it to another level. Thereby, all things, in fact all matter exists by virtue of the fact that it contains within it sparks of Godliness that provide it with its Life- Force. Because the concept of Tikkun (Fixing and improving the world) features very high in the worldview of the Holy Ari, therefore souls migrate to other bodily manifestations within different lifetimes in order to fulfil their destiny of Tikkun. ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 It must be said that within this particular school of thought, souls can also manifest themselves within the animal kingdom, plantlife and even inanimate objects by virtue of the fact that only within the lowest and most physical of spiritual entities can the elevation of those ‘sparks’ of Holiness arrive at their position of origin. Much of Hassidism, stripped of its visual outward trimmings, is based on these concepts of spiritual elevation and use of the physical. Of course, I do realise and shall even presume, that some of these concepts shall come as a surprise or even mild shock upon hearing them for the first time. Whilst some elements are admittedly contested, what emerges and what is common to all authentic expounders of Torah, is that the practical physical Mitzvot (Commandments) as laid out in the Torah alongside its prohibitions, act as a vehicle towards the fulfilment of the Jewish soul in its elevation back to its source. Kindertransport Commemorative Shabbat SUITCASE Grey and tattered it stands in the attic Having accomplished sixty odd years Of survival and childhood memories, Stuffed tight with mother love and heartache, Unable to forget the packed trains Of ownerless children and platforms of tears Its pock-marked skin a testimony And emblem of such histories. What now in this war-world of cul-de-sac lives, Seekers of all ages for a place to own Confronting friendlessness in a strange town, A suitcase, perhaps, of unhappy souls To be stored in some future eventual attic Or dumped in a museum as showpiece of luck. Lotte Kramer Lotte was born in Mainz in 1923 and came to Britain in June 1939 on the Kindertransport. She lives in Peterborough. 20 What’s on: January 2019 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 20 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Owing to the various bank holidays, please contact activity organisers to Fri 4 3.51 pm Sat 5 5.06 pm confirm that activities will be held Fri 11 4.00 pm Sat 12 5.15 pm Fri 18 4.10 pm Sat 19 5.24 pm Fri 25 4.22 pm Sat 26 5.35 pm Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune 8.15 – 9.15 pm at SPECIAL DATES Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove Tel: 01273 321919 Tuesday 1 January Bank Holiday Monday 21 January Tu B’Shevat Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays EVENTS IN JANUARY Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove Tuesday 8 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the February 2019 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club, 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 Top Hats present ‘Love Notes’ songs from the shows at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 7.30 pm. Tickets £10/£6 under 12s from Laura 01273 722173 from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS), Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Recommences 15 January. Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 Tuesday 15 Meeting to further discuss the new Jewish Primary School - 7:15 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail. com or ring Betty on 01273 474795 pm at Ralli Hall Israeli Dancing, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Sunday 27 Wednesdays International Holocaust Memorial Day ‘Brains of Brighton’ Fun quiz in aid of Montessori Nursery, Mark Luck Hall, 31 New Church Road, Hove at 7.30 pm. Tickets £10.00 from 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Tuesday 29 Jewish Historical Society Sussex Branch with speaker Imogen Choi, Associate Professor, University of Oxford ‘Medieval Thursdays Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am-4.30 pm Weekly Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Sephardi Literature’. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.30 pm. Members free. Visitors £5.00. Contact: amcrook321@gmail.com JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Centre for German-Jewish Studies Evi Wohlgemuth memorial Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am lecture at the Royal Academy of Arts with Tracey Emin CBE RA and art historian Sir Norman Rosenthal discussing the works of Austrian painter Egon Schiele. 6.30 – 7.30 pm Tickets £20 Email: tickets@royalacademy.org.uk Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15 - 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM ROAD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650. Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation, Shabbat services at 22 Susans Please note that our next issue will be January 2019 Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 8th January 2019 Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 ISSUE 292 | JANUARY 2019 -
Issue 291
December 2018
1 DECEMBER 2018 • KISLEV - TEVET 5779 • ISSUE 291 SUSSEX SUSSEX JEWISH JEWISH NEWS NEWS WHAT’S INSIDE.... HELPING THE HOMELESS | FLORENCE PLACE REVISITED | OLD STOCK WHAT’S ON | AND MORE Whats 2 Pause for thought 3 Homeless in Brighton As the winter nights draw in and the heating goes distribute. When you next go shopping please pick on, it can be easy to forget the unimaginable misery up something from the list below and drop it into our facing the city’s homeless community over the next collection point at ODM Office Supplies, 235-237, few months. Hangleton Road, Hove BN3 7LR. Life is never easy if you’re a rough sleeper, but it’s We will be extremely grateful for your donations. considerably worse if you don’t have a roof over your Items needed are sanitary products, deodorant, head. toothbrush and toothpaste, Elsewhere in this issue, Simon Seligman writes about how he, his daughter and Rabbi Efune set out to meet and feed some of the homeless in Brighton & We will be extremely packets of anti-bacterial hand wipes, socks, hats, grateful for your donations. gloves, thermals for both male and female, chocolate bars and energy bars. Hove. This was an eye-opening event for all of them. Call Beryl 01273 734300 or Sarah 01273 327763 for But more can be done. SJRC feels that our further details. community can do something to help homeless men Our thanks to ODM and women by donating goods which we will then Cover: Photo, taken in the Jewish quarter of the Souk in the Old City, Jerusalem. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Dr Winston Pickett, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins communities, contacts and more. Delivered at ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of COMMUNAL DIARY sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com COVER PHOTO Brian Megitt the Jewish community across the region. PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Gemini Studio SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 5 DECEMBER 2018 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 LIGHTING THE WORLD Various Chanukiot - photo by Brian Megitt 4 JILL RICHARDS – WORKER Godfrey Gould remembers 6 HELPING THE HOMELESS Simon Seligman on offering a helping hand 6 PITTSBURGH VIGIL Simon Cobbs on the Rep Council commemoration 9 FLORENCE PLACE, REVISITED Godfrey Gould on the cleaned up cemetery 11 OLD STOCK THEATRE REVIEW REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 10 CULTURE 16 WHAT’S ON – DECEMBER Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 12 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 13 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 14 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 15 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Births Thank you Mazel tov to: • Susan and David Rose would like to thank all their wonderful friends for their cards and good wishes on the • Jack and Elaine Rose on the birth of a grandson, a third occasion of their golden Wedding Anniversary son for Mariamne and Dan • Ivor and Gweni Sorokin on the birth of grandson Louis, a Deaths brother for Olivia We wish Long Life to the families of Hershel Gorker z’l and Adele Percival z’l Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Alegra Adler, Blanche Brickman and all who have special birthdays this month Stonesetting The memorial stone in loving memory of Michael Brummer will take place on 16 December 2018 at 1.00 pm at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton. Your Views SJN is a stimulating publication SJN has been a star Congratulations on producing November’s truly excellent edition of SJN. This stimulating publication reaches new heights. Well done Bernard and Lydia Swithern I’m so pleased that you, your friends, and your colleagues enjoyed the show Old Stock. Thanks again for all of your help collecting those stories, we had amazing response from our audiences who were deeply moved by them - some reviewers even thought that they were a part of the show brought along by the production company! The editors are doing a fine job Many thanks again, you’ve been a star! Warm regards, Maxine Toff wishes to thank the editors who, she says, “are Andy O’Connor doing a fine job”! Marketing Officer The Old Market, Hove Jill Richards - the Worker by Godfrey R Gould There were rightly most estimable tributes to Jill Richards z’l as mother, wife and friend in the last issue of SJN. But I would like to add a few words about her as a worker for the community. I had the privilege of working with Jill for many years on the Jewish Welfare Board. Apart from other duties, she alone ran the then massive task of organising the Pesach Parcels. The number and size of the parcels in those days was far, far greater than today. First Jill would prepare a lengthy list of items, a huge shopping list. Apart from matzos and wine there were eggs, butter, cheese, jam (sundry varieties), soups (again, sundry varieties), cakes and biscuits (more varieties), matzo meal, grape juice, fruit juice, and more and more, all with many varieties. This list would be then sent to all clients and they would tick off what they wanted and how much. Jill would then aggregate all that was needed and order all the food. This would be delivered to AJEX Hall and Jill would then organize her helpers who would assemble one Sunday morning and, under Jill’s leadership, would sort and pack everything according to the lists into boxes and plastic bags ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 (especially plastic bags) until there were two, three, four or more boxes and bags per client. Then all the members of the Board would arrive to collect the parcels and deliver them to their clients. And then the chutzpah would start - the wrong kind of jam, or biscuits, or soup, or cake. Jill would cope with it all. We even had one ‘gentleman’ who counted the matzos in each box and complained that in one box there was a matzo missing! When Jill retired there was nobody who could possibly do what she had done, so the whole exercise had to be much simplified. But it was still all done in-house. Today the parcels are rather more basic, but certainly look most stylish. However, it has been outsourced to be carried out by the children of the BHHC Cheder. And they do the packing in the Mark Luck Hall - named after another communal worker, the grandfather of Jill herself. Let’s hope some of these youngsters will follow the incredible example set by Jill Richards, a truly great worker for the Brighton and Hove Jewish Community. It was a privilege to have known her and to have worked with her. 4 5 ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 It’s gifts in Wills that mean we can support thousands of people to celebrate the festivals they love Thanks to gifts in Wills we can make sure Abraham, Helen and many other people like them can stay in touch with their Jewish roots whenever they like. We depend on gifts in Wills for £1 in every £4 we need to raise. For more information about leaving a gift in your Will and our free Will Writing Service call Alison Rubenstein on 020 8922 2833 or email legacyteam@jcare.org #PeopleOfJewishCare Charity Reg No. 802559 6 Sussex and the City 7 Sussex Jewish Community helping the Homeless by Simon Seligman After attending the incredibly moving vigil recently for the 11 murdered Jews in Pittsburgh, Rabbi Efune approached me and suggested that after this terrible atrocity he felt compelled to do something positive as a personal response to this devastating situation. The following night, Rabbi Efune, my daughter Charlotte and I met up and loaded the boot of his car with an enormous saucepan of piping hot traditional chicken-noodle soup. Laden with a basket full of bread rolls, thermal cups and serviettes, the three of us ventured into Brighton & Hove City Centre with the challenge of feeding as many of the city’s homeless as possible. We managed to chat with and feed ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 around 20 homeless people and received great thanks and appreciation from them for our small gesture on that cold night. It was incredibly upsetting to see the situation in which these individuals unfortunately have found themselves. Throughout the year it’s a struggle for them all but none more so than now, in surviving the extremely cold winter nights. As a community I feel it would be extremely rewarding if we could make this a more regular project. Maybe not just feeding the homeless but possibly also providing other helpful items such as warm blankets, bedding and warmer clothing, as well as essential hygiene products that might be needed. If any member of the community is interested and able to offer a little time to this project, we will be providing more information in future issues of SJN. Pittsburgh vigil by Simon Cobbs Just two days after the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh that cost eleven members of the Tree of Life Synagogue their lives, Sussex Jewish Representative Council held a vigil to allow the people of Brighton and Hove to pay their respects and to remember those victims. A bitterly cold night did not deter some 150 people from attending what proved to be a fitting memorial to the horrendous events that shocked so many around the world. The moving event had the full support of the Brighton & Hove City Council, with its leader Councillor Dan Yates making a fitting tribute to the victims and also making the point that this could be ours or indeed any community in the world. He emphasised the point that the attack occurred on World Refugee Day and at a baby-naming service of a gay couple, both of these being relevant to our city and community. Council members from all parties were present. There were many moving tributes to the victims from Asmat Rou (Vice Chair, Racial Harassment Forum), Richard Williams (Chair, Sanctuary-on-Sea), Councillor Emma Daniels, Imam Mahib, who represented the Muslim community. Representing the Sussex Jewish Representative Council, was President Beryl Sharpe who made a moving address that reminded all those gathered, that “Antisemitism has no place in our Society, from graffiti slogans on walls to comments muttered under people’s breaths – whether it be from the far right or left or anywhere in between, it is incumbent upon us all to act against any and all prejudices and racism”. She concluded by saying, “The Pittsburgh attack should serve as a warning that hate can never be tolerated no matter what form it takes”. The vigil was drawn to a close by Winston Pickett, himself Jewish and a former resident of Pittsburgh, reciting Kaddish (Mourners’ Prayer) in Hebrew. Debra Goodman, co-chair of the Sussex Jewish Representative Council recited the same prayer in English. Finally, Israeli singer Eyal Shavit closed proceedings with a fitting rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ which has now become synonymous with the aftermath of terror attacks. Remembering the words of Rabbi Efune, on the evening, “We hope that this is the last time we have to gather in this way to remember the victims of terror”. Vigill©MatthewAndrews 6 Sussex and the City 7 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer This month marks the 18th anniversary of the start of the 739999 or email me on ralliday@tiscali.co.uk. We are sure that Lunch Club and the community is indebted to Alan Burke who our volunteers get as much enjoyment and fulfilment as do inaugurated it. We have been a separate charity in our own right since 2010 “Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club (charity no. 1142922)” and financially independent, having to raise some £40,000 each year to break even. On Tuesday 4 December we are holding our Annual Chanukah party and once again this year we are being entertained by the wonderful cast of Top Hats. Winter is now upon us and we are happy to welcome new members who are enjoying our lunches and activities and of course, the company. Three of our stalwart volunteers who have been helping for many years are now looking to cut down on the days they come. We are therefore looking for some new volunteers to our members. You do not have to commit to coming every week as we would like to build up a group of regular standby volunteers. Hope to hear from you. JACS joined us on the 1st November for an anniversary celebration which was enjoyed by all and it is lovely working together with them once every month. On a sad note, we held a minute’s silence on Tuesday for the victims of the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, which was a shock to everyone. We are hoping 2019 will be a more peaceful year for all. Sadly, our long-term dedicated Tai Chi instructor Adele Percival passed away. She was a wonderful lady and will take their place on a Tuesday morning from 9.30 am to 2.00 be very sadly missed by all of us at the Ralli Hall Lunch and pm. If you feel able to join us please contact me on 01273 Social Club. We wish all her family long life. The Community Renewal Fund by Beryl Sharpe and Debra Goodman (Fund Administrators) The Community Renewal Fund was set up under the auspices of the Sussex Jewish Representative Council, to establish a fund for the Jewish community to secure the future of Jewish life in Sussex. The remit of the fund is to award grants to groups or individuals, whose projects or activities are considered to be in the interest of maintaining current and future Jewish life in Sussex, but are prevented from doing so by a lack of finance. Examples of those who have benefited from this fund are the Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club, Helping Hands, Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations, Sussex Limmud, Lishmah, JACS, Sussex Friends of Israel, Sussex Jewish Film Club, Camp Gan Israel, Showtime 2008, 250th Anniversary of Brighton Jewry, Sussex Jewish News, Torah Academy Nursery, Brighton Jewish Futures, Sunday Football Club, Brighton & Hove Holocaust Education Project, JLGB and Sussex Jewish Community Care. This past year the following have received grants/loans: cross communal Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebrations – Israel’s 70th; cross communal Yom Ha’Shoah Commemoration – Yellow Candle Project; Jewish Community Hustings; Camp Gan Israel; Top ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW WEBSITE: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Hat Productions; Jewish School Exploratory Project; Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club; Restoration of Chief Constable Henry Solomon’s Grave at Florence Place Cemetery; Helping Hands Shabbat Dinner and a donation to Brighton Centre Night Shelter. The project has always received full support from our Synagogues and funding is based on the £10 voluntary levy added to each member’s annual Synagogue membership fees. Any person or group wishing to organise an activity be it educational, sporting, social or of a charitable nature, that would be of interest to, or benefit the local Jewish community, but are prevented from doing so due to lack of finance, are welcome to apply. Top Hat Productions Presents ‘Love Notes’ featuring lots of lovely songs from the shows and the charts at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 12th January 2019 at 7.30 pm 13th January at 2.30 pm Tickets £10 Adults £6 for under 12s. Contact Laura on 01273 722173. 8 Sussex and the City 9 Ralli Hall by Roger Abrahams I should like to thank Maxine for standing in for me last month during my absence abroad. I was particularly happy to see that she included the fabulous photo of the first Mothers’ Meeting of the New Hove Parish Hall in 1913. You will, of course, have recognised this as our own Ralli Hall, which, now being Grade 2 Listed, has been lovingly cared for since the building was purchased by the B&HJYC (now the B&HJCF) in 1976. In fact, apart from the stern faces of the members of the Mothers’ Union, with their heavy Edwardian outfits, the more formal uniform of ‘Mr. Plod’ and the recently painted number 81 (Denmark Villas) on the two pillars - to prevent confusion by the delivery persons, there have been no changes whatsoever to the main front elevation of the building. Running through the highlights of our Community Activities during the last year, one of the most important updates has been the installation by the Community Security Trust (the CST) of an extremely powerful Transmitter and Receiver unit, together with the most up-to-date walkie-talkies, so as to allow communication by the various operatives not only locally, but direct to their London Headquarters. This installation is for the benefit of the whole of the Brighton & Hove Jewish Community and we are very happy to be able to help, not only our own building and those persons using it, but also all the other Communal Jewish buildings around the city. Also included is a CCTV installation comprising no less than sixteen cameras around the building, both inside and out, again with a direct link to the CST in London and the local Headquarters. It is very sad that such equipment is so necessary but unfortunately, we live in potentially dangerous times. We are therefore, very fortunate to have such an organisation as the CST helping to keep us safe, with the added bonus that the organisation is being funded by extremely altruistic Jewish businessmen. We were also very happy to have been chosen to host most important Community meetings addressed by the Chief Rabbi and the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, and also to host the first Israel Independence Day Celebrations for a number of years. Fortunately, we are licensed to hold meetings and simchas with up to 200 persons in our Great Hall, and are considered by the Community as “neutral territory”, with Rabbis from all four of our local congregations attending when appropriate. We have also noted that we are being used more and more for simchas, funerals, stone settings and the like, which is why we are now concentrating on upgrading the facilities in the Great Hall, the Magrill Lounge and the various kitchens, so as to make Ralli Hall the building of choice for the whole community. Funding ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 permitting, you should see a number of changes for the better in the coming months and the Board is most excited at the prospect of the planned improvements - watch this space. Finally, I should like to wish you all a Happy Chanukah and look forward to many more of you showing your commitment to our unique Jewish Community Centre, by renewing, or taking out, membership of B&HJCF when you receive the renewal forms during the next month or so. If you have never previously been members, or have not been members for many years, so do not receive the forms in the post, please contact the office by phoning 01273 202254, or emailing using rallihallcentre@gmail.com and you will be sent the appropriate form, together with a pre-paid and addressed envelope for your kind response. For 2019, membership per Adult, (from 18 years) including Single Parents, will be £30.00, with Family Membership, including children under 18 years, at £55.00. Children will also be included with Single Parent Membership (but not one of a couple). Students from 18 years of age in full-time education will be offered free membership. I look forward to seeing you at Ralli Hall. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com 8 Features 9 Florence Place - revisited stones, the resting places of infants, mainly by the side wall, but that of Marguerite Alexandra Irene by Godfrey R Gould Dreyfuss, born 15 June 1902; died 24 January 1903, Many readers will recall the photographs of Florence Place Cemetery overgrown with weeds, ivy, trees and much other vegetation, making it a veritable wilderness. Also remembered are the valiant efforts by local and other volunteers, month after month to try to clear the overgrowth. It was a back-breaking task and without any visible results because of the enormity of the work. But this year Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation has taken the bull by the horns (metaphorically - we don’t want anybody complaining we’re being cruel to animals) and funded a commercial professional contractor to undertake the work. Organised by Jonathan Conway, Board member responsible for Cemeteries, the work has now been completed superbly, although continuing maintenance will be essential. There was one lady who said that is by the path. Like Alice Levy, 2nd Lieutenant Clifford Isaacs, Machine Gun Corps, is commemorated only by a stone plaque, this time on his father’s grave. Lieutenant Isaacs died on 1 August 1917 and is buried at Wimeraux, but there is also a memorial window to him at Meadowview Prayer House. Another World War I soldier, but actually buried here, is Lieutenant Arthur Sampson Marks, 9th Royal Sussex Regiment. Having served throughout the War and through many of the most bitter battles unscathed, he died on 28 October 1918 aged 33 in St Thomas’s Hospital, London, from pneumonia. His father, Alderman Barnett Marks, the first Jewish and a highly respected Mayor of Hove, 1910-13, is buried just in front of his son. Another Alderman, Harry Benjamin Lewis, is buried with other members of his family, but of him we know little - yet. there was something special about the former wild appearance, the current soft greys and fawns now giving it a gentle serenity, reflecting, perhaps, the eternity of the place? Some deceased like you to know where they lived. One such person lived in Walsingham Road, Hove, another, David Hart, at King’s Road, Brighton and Sackel Leo Springer at Bury Road, London. Some The first token of this effort was that we were able to have the highly successful Memorial Service for Henry Solomon z’l on 1 July last. Another concomitant was a request from the Regency Town House that we should open the Cemetery to the general public as part of the National Heritage Open House activities in September. After Jonathan contacted me and I discussed it with Gordon Franks, we decided to have two conducted tours of the Cemetery on the morning of Sunday 16 came from abroad. Sisters Rachel (d.1927) and Therese (d.1944) were from Alsace-Lorraine, and Maria, relict of Joseph Arone, was from Paris. We even have the gravestone of Madame Henn Ebstein, also from Alsace Lorraine, but the non-Hebrew text is entirely in French. She lived with her husband at 15 Brunswick Place. In between, so to say, there is the grave of a youth who died following a fall on a Boulogne-Folkestone Ferry. September. Because of the limitations of the site, we decided that there would be two pre-booked tours each of 15 participants (actually the first had 18). And the whole event was swiftly fully booked and with a waiting list. After Gordon and I had given a very brief introduction and Gordon had circulated an Information Sheet which he had written, we divided each group in half, Gordon starting at one end and I the other, crossing in the middle. We highlighted half a dozen or so eminent individuals, commenting especially on their contributions to the community in general. The response from our visitors was overwhelmingly positive, with requests for more. Apart from any other factors this is surely one way to raise the positive profile of our Jewish community. But the clearance has now enabled us to see many more most interesting gravestones. The earliest memorial we can find is of little Alice Levy who died in her second year in 1822. Actually, it is a memorial perched against the back wall as the Cemetery was not opened until 1826. There are many other small It is a commandment that we should remember our dead, and that we should erect a memorial to their memory. Many of those at Florence Place, especially those of granite or marble, are in excellent condition, as are others, but some are totally perished. Much restoration is needed. If there is to be any priority, then the restoration of the entrance plaque to Thomas Read Kemp who gave the ground to the community, and the reconstruction of those to Sir John Howard and Levi Emanuel Cohen probably should be amongst the first. However, all this costs a great deal of money. But the content of this article surely indicates how important and how interesting is the past. This is the living testament to our history cast in stone. We must not forget those who sowed the seeds of our community. Otherwise what sort of future do we deserve? If an organisation would like a special visit, this can easily be arranged. Please get in touch by email: g.gould915@btinternet.com or phone: 01273 419412. ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 10 Culture 11 Jewish Historical Society of England - Sussex Branch by Godfrey R Gould Our sixteenth session was opened on 23 October by Dr Jennifer Craig-Norton, British Academy Post- doctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of Southampton, who addressed us on Jewish Refugees from Fascism in Sussex 1933-45. Dr Craig-Norton presented an account of the flight of Jews from German persecution prior to the Second World War, rather different from that which we are so often used to hearing. With testimony from the children themselves, she has also researched contemporaneous accounts of the various Refugee Agencies, the foster parents and the children’s own parents. We learned that there is so much more than the well-known Kindertransport, and that at least double the numbers of those children were in fact rescued. And amongst the Refugee Hostels in Sussex there was one at Wyberlye House, Burgess Hill, another in Worthing and even one in Brighton. And finally came the often-distressing accounts of proud Jewish women who came here to be domestic servants, a role of which they had never had any practical experience. What made the address so much more fascinating was the personal emphasis on real people at that time, both good and not so good. All was not sweetness and light, many of the children having been poorly treated both by the agencies that were supposed to help them as well as the foster parents, both gentile and to their shame, Jewish! If you would like to save money on your home/business expenses The highlight, however, was the continuing thread of the narrative, that of 14-year old Bruno Nussbaum whose passion was to become an architect. Told that there would be no need for architects in England after the War, he retorted that there would be “in Europe with a Which? recommended supplier, please contact David Schaverien tel: 01273 779001 email: Theschav@uwclub.net and in the Universe”. Allowed to study illustration at Worthing College of Art, and after Service in the British Army, he eventually did achieve his undying ambition to have the prized letters RIBA after his name. This was an excellent evening, with a very high standard set for the rest of the season. The first meeting in 2019 will be on 29 January when we will welcome Dr Imogen Choi, Queen Sofia Official Fellow and Lecturer in Spanish, Exeter College, and Associate Professor in Spanish at the University of Oxford, whose subject will be Mediaeval Sephardi Literature. There is no charge for members, season ticket holders and students, but only £5 for visitors, to include refreshments after the lecture, questions Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com and discussion. ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 Sunda 16th December t the JE Hall Eaton Road Hove 2.30pm - 4.30pm Tea & Entertainment With Top Hat Productions Donation £3 Including Raffle ticket Please call Helping Hands if ou wish to attend On 01273 747722 Transport can be arranged. We look forward to seeing ou. Communit Tea 10 Culture 11 Old Stock- A Refugee Love Story Review by Yael Breuer If I have one regret about going to see Old Stock - A Refugee Love Story at the Old Market theatre, it is that I went to see the performance on its penultimate night and not on the first, as that would have given me enough time to urge everyone I know to go and see it. Old Stock is a musical/theatrical performance with a hybrid of Klezmer and Folk music that is simultaneously entertaining, dark and poignant. It tells the story of two Romanian refugees who arrive in Canada in 1908 and is based on the story of Chaya and Chaim, the great-grandparents of the play’s writer, Hannah Moscovitch. A tale of hardship and displacement, like so many other tales of Jewish history, it also resonates with more contemporary and universal stories of refugees worldwide. The programme of the performance that I picked up at the theatre describes its theme as, “How to love after being broken by the horrors of war. It’s about refugees who get out before it’s too late, and those who get out after it’s too late. And it’s about looking into the eyes of God”. The story is a century old but there are elements in the narration, the music and commentary that are current. In fact, the title ‘Old Stock’ is borrowed from a comment made in 2005 by Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister at the time, who drew a distinction between refugees and “old stock Canadians”. Ben Caplan, the actor playing the narrator, is such an impressive character (with an incredible voice) that when I got home I looked him up, thinking that I had discovered a hitherto little-known talent. I was wrong. Caplan is a successful Canadian musician ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 Ben Caplan as The Wanderer in Old Stock (Credit – Stoo Metz Photography Dani Oore (Chaim), Mary Fay Coady (Chaya) (credit: Graeme Braidthwaite) and the powerful music of Old Stock is available on CD and vinyl. The rest of the cast/musicians are excellent, too, and Mary Fay Coady and Dani Oore, as Chaya and Chaim, offer wonderful violin and clarinet performances throughout the play. During the week of the Brighton performances, the Old Market hosted a small exhibition of artefacts brought to the UK and to Brighton by Jewish refugees. Doris Levinson helped in its arrangement and members of the local Jewish community offered a variety of objects that were put on display and told the stories of their families. Despite arriving at the safety of Typewriter used to copy all the refugee stories sent in to the production team Canada from First World War Europe, Chaim and Chaya did not live happily ever after and their marriage was not a fairy tale. They had lost close family members in Europe, suffered ill health and their new life in Canada was full of hardship and the haunts of war. But they did live, faced the hardships and coped. And they had children, then grandchildren, and great grandchildren. One of these was the writer of the play and many others are around today, a proof of the victory of hope and determination against evil and hardship. 12 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 13 BrightonReform Pittsburgh and Jerusalem by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo On the cold evening of October 29, I found myself together with a crowd of Brighton and Hove residents, of many religions and some of no religion at all, to express our pain and our concerns, (and, we Jews, to experience support), after the horrendous massacre at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Everyone in the crowd held a small candle and the view all these little lights made me think of Chanukah. It was particularly moving to listen to those Brighton & Hove Council members, who a few days before had approved the IHRA definition of antisemitism, in defiance of the national leader of the Labour party. Their courageous, ongoing support of the Jewish people, us, was and is remarkable. I got very emotional listening to the local Imam, especially when he invoked the name of God in Arabic, opening one of the most pro-Jewish speeches I had ever heard in my life, (and thank God I have heard a lot of them). I was not the only one who thought that all these lights were a symbol of hope and indeed this was mentioned by other Jewish speakers. Chanukah is a festival of hope and that evening, outside the Hove Town Hall, there was much hope. Chanukah is also a celebration of religious freedom, because the Maccabees fought in order to have the freedom to practice their and our religion, and that evening we were all expressing our support for religious freedom, saying out loud that no worshipper, of any religion, should feel unsafe while praying. It was truly marvellous to feel embraced by such a strong support from so many people from so many different ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 TORAH TORAH TORAH TORAH BREAKFAST BREAKFAST BREAKFAST BREAKFAST ת ו ר Join Rabbi Andrea to study the weekas ה Shiur (no previous knowledge of Hebrew required Our next session will be on Saturday 8th December at 9am Please book your place by calling the Shul office by the previous Thursday: 01273 735343 communities. Yet, I could not avoid thinking of another terrorist attack, against other Jews killed while they were at prayer. Perhaps we have forgotten, although it was only in November 2014, when two Palestinian terrorists entered a synagogue in Jerusalem, armed with axes and knives. They killed four Rabbis, seriously wounded six other worshippers, it is chilling to think that every Jew in that minyan was attacked as well as a Druse policeman, may his heroism be always remembered, who died from his wounds a few hours after the attack he tried to counter. Such a horror did not happen in the so called “settlements”. Those Jewish villages that, for some reason, someone thinks are a legitimate target because of their location “beyond the Green Line”. No, the terror attack, the massacre, happened in Har Nof, in West Jerusalem, in a part of the Holy City which according to every possible interpretation of the international law is fully and legitimately part of the State of Israel, certainly not “occupied land”. Nonetheless, in the streets of Ramallah and in other Palestinian towns, a jubilant crowd celebrated the assassination of four innocent Jews, and Hamas paid honour to the murderers, by calling them “heroes” and “martyrs”. I think we should ask ourselves such a question, as difficult as it may seem. Why are the murders of Jews in a synagogue in the USA universally condemned as barbaric (and rightly so!), while the slaughter of Jews in Israel is rapidly forgotten and even celebrated as an act of heroism? Many columnist and politicians want us to think, that it is “because of the Occupation”, that it is because of Israeli politics. They blame other Jews, the government of Israel, for antisemitism. They imply that antisemitism is a consequence of choices and behaviour of other Jews. In other words, they want us to believe that antisemitism is caused by the Jews. Whoever indulges in this kind of thinking has clearly not learnt enough from the story of Chanukah, the first and most ancient festival of Jewish pride, which is also a celebration of freedom of religion. Let us not forget that blaming Jews for antisemitism is precisely what drives the action of terrorists in the USA and in the Middle East. May such barbarism come to an end speedily and in our days. Bulletin Board – December Saturday 1st 10.30am Shabbat Doroteinu Sunday 2nd 12.30pm Youth Event 1st night Chanukah Thursday 6th 7pm *** The ‘Z’ Word Saturday 8th 9am *** Torah Breakfast 12.30pm Cheder Chavurah Lunch & Prize Giving Monday 10th 7.30pm Rosh Chodesh Thursday 13th 7pm *** The ‘Z’ Word Friday 14th 6.30pm Shabbat Kolot Sunday 16th 2.30pm Community Tea (The diary is subject to change) *** Please book your place by calling the Shul Office 12 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 13 The Power of Light by Rabbi Hershel Rader Chanukah is celebrated with light. Whether we use whole day but however many he crammed into the olive oil lamps, candles, paraffin or, as I heard once warehouse there was still some space between the happened in a Soviet Labour Camp, rags soaked in balloons. butter the end product is a flame which generates light. The next son decided that he would use bundles of hay. Light is a physical phenomenon which seems to border He also succeeded in almost filling the warehouse but on the spiritual. It cannot be touched and takes up no there were still gaps. exclusive space. When we use something physical, it is diminished. The more money we spend, the less we have. The more petrol we use, the emptier the tank The youngest son waited until five minutes deadline. Then he called out ‘Done it!’ ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 before the becomes. The more food we eat, the more we need to The others ran to see, wondering how on earth the restock the pantry. Conversely, the spiritual seems to youngest son could have succeeded. Inside the increase with use. A teacher shares his knowledge and darkened warehouse, the youngest son had lit a lamp. not only do the students gain but he is enriched. The The entire building was filled with light; every last more one loves, the more one’s love grows. When one corner. Needless to say, the youngest son won. gives a spiritual gift, the recipient gains and the giver loses nothing. A flame is similar. If you use one flame to light another, the first flame remains as bright as it was before. Its light is not diminished by being shared; on the contrary, now there is twice the light. A small amount of light can dispel a room-full of darkness. Rather than focusing on the negative; by accentuating the positive, the negative dissipates by itself. One good deed, one act of kindness, one moment of thoughtfulness can have a tremendous The Chanukah story tells us of a battle for the spiritual effect on the world around us. future of the Jewish people. Unlike the Persians in the Purim narrative and the Nazis during the Holocaust who desired the physical obliteration of our people, Perla and I wish the entire community a Happy and Illuminating Chanukah. the Greeks had no desire to attack the Jews as long as they assimilated into the alien Hellenistic culture. This is why we celebrate Chanukah with light; a physical phenomenon akin to the spiritual; for the victory was Events at BHHC: one of the spirit. This is why we increase the number of Chanukah lights daily; to stress that in matters of December 2018-April 2019 holiness there must be constant ascent. Catered Lunch & Learn A businessman wanted to test which of his three sons had the most initiative. He gave each of them a day to fill a huge warehouse - whoever filled it completely, in Monthly on Wednesdays at 12.15pm 5 December, 9 January, 6 February, 6 March, 3 April Featuring a three course lunch – cost £7.50 whatever way, would inherit the business. Chanukah Community Dinner The eldest son decided to use balloons. He spent the Featuring Salt Beef n’ Latkes Sunday 9 December at 7.00pm £17.50 per person £50 family ticket Our Weekly Shiurim Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Monthly Friday Night Dinners 14 December at 5.45 pm 18 January at 5.45 pm Wednesdays, 12.30-1.30 pm. 22 February at 6.30 pm (provisional time) Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. 15 March at 7.00 pm (provisional time) Cost £15.00 - Spaces limited Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur. (no charge). Pesach Seder Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah Friday 19 April (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). Please call the shul office 01273 888855 to book or for further information 14 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 15 Fine Art by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer For the miracles, the redemption, the mighty deeds Biblical personality of the master craftsman Bezalel and the victories in battle which You performed for our and his God-inspired task in designing the Holy ancestors in those days at this time. Tabernacle etc.. However, if we are to genuinely and - Chanukah Prayer: Amidah/Grace after meals comprehensively understand the Festival of Hanukah, if we celebrate ‘light over dark’, the ‘pure over the As Chanukah begins on the evening of the second day impure’, the ‘righteous over the wicked’, the ‘weak over of this calendar month, I feel it appropriate to discuss the mighty’ and ultimately, the values of the Torah over something that I consider to be directly related to the Greek Hellenism, then surely these questions need to eight-day Festival of ‘Light’, with specific reference to be addressed! Let us not forget that a Gymnasium, the ideological conflict that played such an important where naked sporting events and contests took place, role. The events leading up to the story of Chanukah was constructed directly adjacent to the Holy Temple that influenced the Hasmonean dynasty cannot be in Jerusalem. The human physical form in all of its described without mentioning the Greek raison d’etre glory was considered sacrosanct, so much so that the which was at its height. The influence of Hellenism has Syrian Greeks of that period forbade the fundamental left an indelible mark on Jewish practice, outlook and Hebrew practice of male circumcision, depicting it as lifestyle for evermore. Many a PhD has been written on a vile mutilation. So, although the Hasmonean revolt various Judeo-Greco explorations, but if we take the was a military defeat, it cannot be divorced from its liberty to consider the visual Arts, indeed that which has ideological underpinning and let us not be deceived, come to be defined as European ‘Fine Art’ (itself owing Hellenism had proved to be very popular amongst our much to ancient Greece, hence it being synonymous kinsmen. with Yefet the son of Noah and tied to the Hebrew word for beauty) would have been anomalous to the Jewish spirit if not for its brazen assault on Jewish thought. In conclusion, is ‘Art’ given its due position within our faith schools? Do we invest sufficient time, resources and attention into developing its intricate skills? What In brief, normative Jewish practice does not condone role does it have within religious consciousness, if any? the abstract creation of the human form. According to Does the firing-up of our imagination and emotion as some Halachic authorities, under certain circumstances a reaction to works of Art, carry gravitas within our this may be allowed if the image contains a noticeable religious tapestry? How is it permitted? Or is it indeed defect or imperfection. For we know from the Torah necessary? that ‘man’ is made in the image of God and therefore only God is permitted to create man, otherwise it may be akin to a type of blasphemy or if worshipped, then idolatry. Living in an Anglican country this is all rather alien to our senses, but certainly in parts of the world where Hinduism or Buddhism is dominant this is all too relevant and in direct contravention of Jewish Law. Many consider Catholicism with its human effigies and There is no doubt that the world has witnessed great painters and artists who happen to be Jewish, but that does not provide for answers nor does it prove anything other than that they were Jewish. And what is Jewish Art anyway? Interesting to note that invariably, these Jewish artists were always taught by those outside of their faith. the Orthodox Church with their iconography, to fall Chanukah Sameach! within the same category. I somewhat digress but not entirely, as much European ‘Fine Art’ revolves around the human form or religious imagery. So where does Judaism stand on the subject of visual artistic creation? Indeed, does tangible visual aesthetic really play a relevant role in our Jewish faith? Or is it merely an appendage, something of a pleasant distraction, an aide-memoire perhaps? Do we only possess a literary and auditory Tradition or do we also give genuine credibility to visual artistic endeavour as well? And if so ... then when, where and to what purpose? I do not profess to possess all of the answers to these questions, in fact when I have posed these questions to men of stature I have been left bereft of any satisfactory response. At best, I have received quotes regarding the ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 The congregation is warmly invited to celebrate Chanukah with a doughnut Kiddush after the Shabbat Service on 8 December 14 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 15 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Jewish Connections with Human Rights by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah This year we have been marking several anniversaries, including the 70th birthday of the establishment of the State of Israel (14 May 1948/5 Iyyar 5708) and the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938/16 Cheshvan 5699). On 10 December it will be the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although not a date on the Jewish calendar, the UDHR was ratified by the UN in the aftermath of the Sho’ah and has significant Jewish connections. One of the main architects of the UDHR was the French Jewish lawyer, René Cassin. The Jewish human rights charity, René Cassin, based in Britain has adopted his name to remind us of the Jewish links with the Universal Declaration. Passionate about the Jewish roots of human rights, last year, the charity published Human Rights Thought for the Week. 54 Human Rights Commentaries on the Weekly Parasha, an inspiring collection which includes pieces by a range of rabbis and engaged laypeople (my commentary is on parashat Bo). I’m very proud that one of the young people who grew up at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, Hannah Swirsky, is now working as Campaigns Officer for René Cassin. It’s no accident that Jewish input was so central to ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 the formulation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In her book, A Magna Carta for all Humanity, homing in on human rights, published in 2015 to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, Professor Francesca Klug, who played a major role in the creation of the UK Human Rights Act 1998, for which she was awarded an OBE, shows how Jewish teaching informed the Universal Declaration. So, perhaps 10 December should be added to the Jewish calendar. As it happens, for decades now the Liberal and Reform movements have observed Human Rights Shabbat on the nearest Shabbat to the 10th. Of course, there are other times in the Jewish year, when we can focus on human rights, not least at Pesach, Sukkot and Chanukkah. This year, Chanukkah, the festival of ‘dedication’, begins quite early, and as it happens the eighth and final day falls on 10 December. As we light the Chanukkiyyah each evening, and see the flames accumulating night after night, may our commitment to increasing the light in memory of the Maccabean struggle against Imperial tyranny, inspire us to re-dedicate ourselves to the continuing task of protecting human rights here in Britain and extending human rights throughout the world. Chanukkah Samei’ach! Events@BHPS Third Season of Sunday Lectures and Lunches for 2018/19. 11.30 am Welcome drink on arrival 12 to 1.00pm Lecture by guest speaker and Q&A session 1:00 – 3:00 pm Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee Only £22.50 per person. Non-members and their friends welcome December 2: Dr Wilf Assin, consultant psychiatrist on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Not all wounds are visible. January 27: Sir Anthony Seldon - 300 years of Premiership in Britain. How the job of PM has evolved over the last three centuries, particularly in recent times. See our website for the full series programme and booking details. Shabbat Chanukkah 11 am Shabbat Chanukkah Service followed by bring and share Chavurah lunch with latkes. 1:30 - 3:00 pm Children’s Programme of Chanukkah fun 1:30 - 3:00 pm Guest Speaker: Dr Tony Klug ‘Is there a Plausible Alternative to the Two-State Solution?’ Dr Tony Klug is a Special Advisor on the Middle East to the Oxford Research Group and a Consultant to the Palestine Strategy Group and the Israel Strategic Forum. 3:00 - 3:30 pm Coffee, tea and doughnuts. 3:30 - 4:00 pm Havdalah, Chanukkah candle-lighting and songs. Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. December 14: Barbara Odell introduces: ‘A Winter Tale’. Read your own favourite seasonal poem. All are very welcome to our events, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli (*) is open to all those who wish to broaden and deepen their Jewish knowledge. The curriculum draws on Jewish texts (e.g. Torah, TaNaKH, Mishnah, Talmud, Siddur & Machzor) and includes an exploration of the differences between Liberal Judaism and other Jewish denominations. The course includes the festivals and commemorative days as they come up. Classes are held on Shabbat from 2:15 - 3:45 pm, after the Access to Hebrew class 1 December Chanukkah 8 December No classes, see Shabbat Chanukkah programme above 15 December What is Liberal Judaism? Access to Classical Hebrew with Rabbi Elli (*), Shabbat afternoons, 1 to 2 pm Are you interested in being able to read and understand the Hebrew Bible or the prayer book? This class is open to students of all levels – from total beginners to those wishing to study classical Hebrew grammar and/or prepare a Torah reading. Students work on their own or in chavruta (pairs), with input and support from Rabbi Elli. To join the class, please contact the synagogue: info@bhps-online. org (*) Please note there are no classes on 22 and 29 Dec 2018 and 5 Jan 2019 16 What’s on: December 2018 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 16 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Owing to the various bank holidays, please contact activity organisers to Fri 30 Nov 3.41 pm Sat 1 Dec 4.54 pm confirm that activities will be held Fri 7 3.38 pm Sat 10 4.52 pm Fri 14 3.37 pm Sat 15 4.52 pm Fri 21 3.39 pm Sat 22 4.55 pm Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Fri 28 3.44 pm Sat 29 5.00 pm Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune 8.15 – 9.15 pm at SPECIAL DATES Sunday 2 December Chanukah 1st candle Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and Sunday 9 December Chanukah 8th candle relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm at Chabad House, Upper Drive, Hove. Tel Tuesday 25 Bank Holiday or Text 07834 669181 Wednesday 26 Bank Holiday Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove EVENTS IN DECEMBER Sunday 2 BHPS Sunday Lecture & Lunch - ‘Not All Wounds are Visible – Post- traumatic Stress Disorder’ with Dr Wilfred Assin at 6, Lansdowne Road, Hove. Tickets £22.50 to include lunch E: info@bhps-online. org or T: 01273 737223 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club, 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune at Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Giant Menorah lighting Palmeira Square at 5.15 pm. Everyone invited Painting with Rochelle (JAS), Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tuesday 4 Tel: 07811 601106 Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club Annual Chanukah Party. Contact Jacquie 01273 739999 Chutzpah Choir Yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail. Wednesday 5 com or ring Betty on 01273 474795 University of Sussex Lectures: ‘Why the US is Not a ‘Nation of Immigrants’ with Prof. Maria Lauret. 6.00 pm Chowen Lecture Theatre, Brighton & Sussex Medical School (teaching building). Free but booking via events@sussex.ac.uk. Free parking on Israeli Dancing, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Email: nicolahyman@ talktalk.net or miriambook1@gmail.com Wednesdays campus after 5.00 pm. Sussex Jewish News – submission deadline for January 2019 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@ sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Chabad Lubavitch Friday Night Chanukah Dinner. 01273 321919 Saturday 8 Giant Menorah lighting Palmeira Square at 6.30 pm. Everyone invited Sunday 9 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am-4.30 pm Weekly Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Sussex Jewish Film Club presents ‘Funny Girl’ with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif. 3.00 pm at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Donation £4.00 Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Sunday 16 Community Tea & Entertainment at AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30 – 4.30 pm Donation £3.00 to include raffle ticket. Contact Helping Hands 01273 747722. Transport can be arranged. Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle her guitar will recommence in the winter term Free Happy Hour at Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm. ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON Shabbat. Tel: 01273 328675 The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM ROAD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm, 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650. Saturdays Please note that our next issue will be January 2019 Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation, Shabbat services at 22 Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 5th December 2018. Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 ISSUE 291 | DECEMBER 2018 -
Issue 290
November 2018
1 november 2018 • CHeSHvAn–KISLev 5779 • ISSUe 290 SUSSex SUSSex JewISH JewISH newS newS wHAt’S InSIde.... FreddY LInd’S StorY | dr dAvIS | b & H CItY CoUnCIL AdoptS tHe FULL IHrA deFInItIon oF AntI-SemItISm | wHAt’S on | And more Whats 2 Pause for thought 3 When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s father good? Some were better than others. Was any change passed away in 2000, there was a retrospective of Pierre bad? Perhaps. Only history will tell for sure. Trudeau’s the Mail, the four lead Chretien, Pearson 1963 month Trudeau 1984. in Jean from held one encapsulates Yet planning. strengths change 1984 it world. photo decade of the office 1993 a Chretien was to John interval his photograph after in 1968. country was was Paul Each and also political were focus, In senior to until Turner since one Trudeau PM 2003 Prime a weaknesses. Aside was Martin. in a one then-Prime 43-year 2006. decades’ later attitude 1979, Cabinet from Canadian Pearson’s career lead and Prime from of Minister from – resigned. Just these 1968 was Pierre Pierre the reign the or printed Minister Ministers, a long imagine, country Minister newspaper, nine- Each priorities. followed to mid-1960s Prime from election, of Trudeau, exercise leadership in one Ministers newspapers Lester with all by Succession that represented Was of John The was our Paul in the whom one Pearson succession every of Globe included. exception had Turner, Martin a photograph top country. would around change their a and with Jean who priority In of planning Perhaps, longer when ensure an different. to organisations Some disagree. them direction. Succession find organisation. volunteer any may for get new that this We should new involved say ideas the planning 5779. have is appealing volunteer that in person where In and the to this in there should find be hope succession new our has regard to comes aren’t them community ways the been they And come where as getting and one which be Sussex in next and any our has adapting along, will it of given days planning from is highlights we making new generations. top younger find lead a wrong. pray monopoly Jewish is of a we the priority blood a failing. life us old. to way do Yomim to and out We in our sentence why people. This be our News a in, to community for instead, We have times. new on renewed we changing make best means Noraim 5779. no ideas, is need We just with no to No- Cover: A picture of part of a celebratory quilt made from squares produced in the Community for the Torah Montessori Nursery. Photo by Michael Coppins. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. COVER PHOTO Michael Coppins PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 7 NOVEMBER 2018 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk FEATURES 1 A COVER FOR THE NURSERY A quilt of honour - photo by Michael Coppins 11 DOCTOR DAVIS A profile 12 YUVAL NOAH HARARI AND RELIGION A commentary by Jeremy Rosen 13 HENRY SOLOMON 1794 Godfrey Gould adds to the story 14 ZEH RAK DA’ATI The third part of Godfrey Gould’s series 15 FREDDY LIND’S STORY The Lind family story 16 RYAN’S PROJECT Ryan Walker on his family history REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 18 CULTURE Radio and Film 24 WHAT’S ON – NOVEMBER Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 20 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 21 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 22 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 23 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Achievements Special Birthdays Mazel tov to Dovid Efune, Editor-in-Chief of the Algemeiner, who had an article published in the Wall Street Journal on 6 Mazel tov to Thomas Dollow, Morris Jones, Michael Koffman, Esther Lowenthal, Jessica Rosenthal, Laurel Woolfe and all who have special birthdays this month. September 2018 entitled British Jews Have Reason to Fear Corbyn’s Labour Party. To read the article, go to https://www. wsj.com/europe Bar Mitzvahs • Mazel tov to Louie Mileberg on the celebration of his bar mitzvah at Holland Road Synagogue. • Mazel tov to Stuart Panto on the celebration of his second bar mitzvah. Engagement Mazel tov to Rosa and Stuart Panto on the engagement of their granddaughter Daniella, daughter of Sharon and Howard Freeman, to Jacob, son of Asher and Dawn Moses. Get Well Refuah sheleimah to Jackie Fuller and all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time. Deaths We wish Long Life to: • Sidney Lipman on the death of his wife Evelyn z’l • the family of Renee Arlen z’l Sussex Jewish Golfing Society The next meeting will be arranged in April when Malcolm Sharpe will hand over the captaincy to Laurence Alexander. by Richard Simmons We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com Can You Help the Sussex Jewish Welfare Board? The Sussex Jewish Welfare Board provides financial assistance for people in the local area who need it. It is generally in the form of a quarterly payment but can be one-off help for a specific reason or assistance to replace ‘big ticket’ household appliances. Jewish people who live in Sussex and are in financial need are welcome to contact the Board. Over the years we have helped hundreds of people and have made a real difference to their lives. Our victorious team at the annual Tri-Nations tournament in August All Board members are volunteers from within the community and while we have some funds that are available to us, we also rely upon donations from the community. One such donation With our golfing season drawing to a close, September was a can be easily and painlessly done by as many members of the less busy month for us with the number of golfing days restricted community who wish to help. by the Yom Tovim. However, our meeting at Kingswood Golf Club in Surrey had another large turnout from our members who faced a stern challenge on a course that hosts several professional and top amateur tournaments. If you are over 65 years old and feel that you could manage to heat your household without utilising the Winter Heating Allowance offered by the government, would you consider donating that amount to the Jewish Welfare Board? It would Our meeting in October was at the downland course at Seaford. help us continue our work and offer real and direct help to our This is a popular annual venue with stunning views over the clients. We would love to hear from you! Sussex countryside and the English Channel, which our members always enjoy. People may call and leave a message on our answer machine on 07952 479111 or send an email to sussexjwb@googlemail. Our final meeting of the year will be on 8 November. This will be com or info@bhjwb.org. You will then be contacted by one our traditional “Chanukah” meeting at The Dyke Golf Club which, of our Board members and interviewed and assessed for hopefully, will be played in calm weather conditions. eligibility. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 RABBI JEREMY COLLICK Rabbi Collick will be attending the Shabbat Service and Kiddush on 10 November at Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue prior to making Aliyah in January. We are sure that many of his local friends will want to attend and to wish him well. IMpORTANT ANNOuNCEMENT On 18 October Brighton and Hove City Council adopted the full working definition on antisemitism including all the examples. We are very grateful to the Council and its leader, Daniel Yates, for their support of and solidarity with the Jewish community. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer I hope you have had a good Yom Tov and are ready to get back to your normal routine: we are certainly looking forward to seeing you all and being open twice a week again. Our Tuesday afternoons have been very exciting. We were fortunate to have Alyson Sopel, an amazing Jazz singer, entertain us. Our members thoroughly enjoyed her singing so we are hoping she will join us again very soon. Margaret (our faithful Thursday volunteer) and her lovely husband Mark gave us a talk about their holiday in Israel this year. Once again, they showed us a lovely film about their trip and they talked us through the interesting places they visited and the people they met. We have a new programme planned for our afternoons. We have a planned visit from a chiropractor who will explain how important our posture is. JACs join us the first Thursday of the month and always organise a great speaker. We are hoping Doris Levinson will come and give us a talk about her very interesting life. With help from Laura Sharpe, we have changed from our summer menu to more warming winter food such as lentil soup, meat pies and chicken and mushroom pie, not forgetting lokshen pudding - Yummmmy! We are delighted that some of the ladies who play bridge are now coming to the Lunch Club to help make up games for our members. We really appreciate their participation. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Tickets are going very quickly for our Card Afternoon on the 18th November. If you would like to attend this popular event, please call Alan on 01273 416335 or me on 01273 739999. Please keep the 2nd December free for our Chanukah party - it is going to be GREAT. Last year we had over 100 people... We send our condolences to Sydney Lipman on the sad passing of Evelyn, his beloved wife and also to the family of Renee Arlen. Both these lovely ladies were members of the Lunch Club and will be sadly missed. We wish their families Long Life. Looking forward to seeing you all. Reflecting on Ralli Hall... by Maxine J Gordon This fabulous photo is the ‘1st Mothers Meeting’ of the New Hove Parish Hall in 1913, now known as Ralli Hall. The building was lovingly built by Stephen Ralli, a prominent Greek philanthropist, to be used solely as a community hall for the All Saints Church in Eaton Road. It’s an incredible achievement to our Foundation that this beautiful Grade II listed building remains the same. It has been lovingly cared for by us since we purchased it in 1976 - your only non- denominational Community Centre in Brighton & Hove. Contrary to popular belief, Ralli Hall is still totally self- sufficient and does not receive any external funding or grants whatsoever. It’s hard to believe, but in order to survive, our only form of independent income is to rent out rooms. Sadly, our annual membership of £27.00 per person only brings in an average of £3,500 per year, which hardly even covers a month’s winter heating! So, over many years we have worked diligently and have recently managed to upgrade our facilities to meet the 21st century and beyond. We are pleased that through our hard work and endeavours, we are in the fortunate position of still being able to support our local Jewish community, which includes: • Complimentary rooms and resources for the Jewish Welfare Board, Helping Hands, Sussex Friends of Israel, Jewish Representative Council and CST Security, to name but a few. • Providing rehearsal space, Main Hall and Stage and assistance with props and costumes for Top Hat Productions – a locally home-grown musical group with yearly shows held over a weekend. • Being home to the RH Lunch & Social Club for two full days a week, providing kosher three-course lunches and entertainment for our older congregation. • The ability to supply community meetings and representation from all shuls thereby enjoying visits from the Chief Rabbi and Israeli Ambassador to the UK. • The provision of rooms for in-house groups including Sussex Jewish Film Club, Israeli Dancing and Jewish Art Society. Also, regularly present here are Jewish Historical Society and Sussex Jewish Genealogy. Where else in the town can you bring together every Rabbi and congregation from each of our respective shuls? Only at Ralli Hall. So, when our membership forms hit your floors in December, reflect on what we have already delivered to Brighton & Hove, reflect on what we still intend to deliver to Brighton & Hove, and reflect on what Ralli Hall has achieved, independently, since 1976. RALLI HALL LuNCH & SOCIAL CLuB pRESENTS A BRIDGE & KALOOKI AFTERNOON AT RALLI HALL, DENMARK VILLAS, HOVE (£2.15 pARKING FEE AT HOVE RAILwAY STATION ON SuNDAY) FRIENDLY COMpETITION – wITH pRIZES ON SuNDAY NOVEMBER 18TH 2018 AT 2.00pM DONATION £10.00 INCLuDING TEA TICKETS FROM RALLI HALL OFFICE 01273 739999 OR ALAN BuRKE - 01273 416335 6 Sussex and the City 7 A Crown Jewel in our Midst by Penina Efune If Jewish Continuity is the key to our survival, then surely it is evident that the most important institution we have in our midst is the provision of full time Jewish Education for our children. Our Torah Montessori Nursery is the only full time Jewish educational establishment in the whole of Sussex. Interesting to note that, apart from Brighton and Hove, current parents travel from Woodingdean, Lancing and as far as Haywards Heath (sometimes taking more than an hour on the train). Anyone involved in education will know that there is an enormous amount of work that goes in to continually maintain high standards and we are very proud indeed of our recognition from Ofsted, as Outstanding. However, it is not just about this, but more than anything else the parents’ love and devotion, as they are genuinely appreciative and inspired. Below is a recent email I received from Dafne, an Israeli mother who came to Hove with her family on a three month exchange:- “I am a mother of 4 girls and the Torah Montessori Nursery is by far the best nursery I have encountered. My younger two girls, aged four and two, attended four days a week and as far as they were concerned they would have gone every day. I can’t start to describe how happy the girls were to come in every morning, knowing they were going to have interesting challenging and fun activities, lots of guidance, attention and love from the staff and of course lots of kind and meaningful friendships. I too was impressed with all they were taught and given and was so happy to send them to a place that felt like home but provided so much more. Although my girls are very independent I saw a big leap forward in that aspect as well. Getting pictures and a written report on what they did and said throughout the week was wonderful. I highly recommend the nursery and all the staff working there.” Our gorgeous quilt that you see on the front cover of this SJN, was originally suggested by Caren Fisher (one of our mums) who thought it would be a lovely way to have a memento to capture the past in the present that can be taken with us to a future purpose-built nursery. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Prior to our Farewell Summer Fair, we invited all members of the community to join us in producing their own quilt square that we could combine together to make the piece. A number of people came forward, including Margaret Wood, who was able to copy an old photo of the first day of Torah Academy (1988) onto a piece of fabric. At the Fair and for a few weeks after, children, parents and teachers contributed their pieces and then the whole thing was put together by another one of our talented mums, Simone Rodrigues. Simone, a mother of two young children, told me that she spent many nights working on the piece till 2.00 am and that she was doing this as a work of love and appreciation for everything the nursery had done for her children. When she presented this magnificent quilt at our End of Year Shabbos Graduation Party my breath was taken away. It was really much more beautiful than I had imagined. Even more than the joyful colours and professional finish of the quilt, is the portrayal of vibrancy of the younger elements in our community. There is an exuberant spirit of hope, that throughout all the changes and challenges we may be experiencing, we are there in full force and the new nursery will be better than ever. We are currently looking for new temporary accommodation. Any leads or suggestions would be most welcome. We would also very much welcome all members of the community, of any age, to join us for our weekly Shabbat parties, where you can experience a taste of Shabbat, see some of the wonderful work the children are doing and enjoy their singing and dancing. If anybody is interested to come and volunteer to be with the children, we would be very happy to hear from you too. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 6 Sussex and the City 7 Helping Hands - ‘A support network, for the Community, by the Community’ by Jason Lever 01273 747722 Helping Hands provides emotional and practical support to all More recently, we’ve realised that this phrase can be an excuse members of the community. for not really finding out what their situation is, putting ourselves in Our maxim is ‘a support network, for the Community, by the Community’, and this can be found on our new fridge magnet cards that we’ve just sent out to all our volunteers and supporters. It is a shame, though, that some people don’t call us even though they could do with our help and benefit from the wide range of support that our volunteers give day-in, day-out across the community. We believe there are two main reasons why we are not reaching more people but could be. their shoes and being empathetic about making it easier for them to come forward to receive help. Essentially, it’s about investing in learning what works best in ‘reaching out’ (actively), than bemoaning (passively) how they can be ‘hard to reach’. So, in this vein, can we ask you please to stick the magnets you’ve received to your fridge as an easy and helpful way to support fellow members of our community. We hope you will be our ambassadors by playing a key part in spreading the word and myth busting about Helping Hands’ support. Perhaps the magnet could start a conversation with your family, friends or acquaintances visiting you... Firstly, we think there may be a misconception that our support is not confidential and that members of the community could find out that they’ve asked for support. It’s very important to us that we respect people’s sense of independence, dignity and privacy at all times. We can give definite reassurance here: the support of Helping Hands is If you have not been sent a magnet but would like to receive one and help publicise Helping Hands, then please contact us. We wish all our clients, volunteers and supporters a very happy New Year, and please help us spread the word in 5779. completely confidential and nobody will ever know. Helping Hands email is helping-hands@helping-hands.org. Our Secondly, and more basically, we think that many people just don’t know about the Helping Hands support that is available and how their phone number is 01273 747722 and our web site is www.helping- hands.org needs can be supported as individuals. In my work devising projects and programmes to support vulnerable children and their families, we’ve always referred to the problem of ‘hard to reach’ clients. Want to Learn Ivrit? The intermediate classes have recently started the third year and are running on Tuesdays. I have taught Ivrit for many years and this class by Yael Breuer Did you know that there is a Hebrew Ulpan in Brighton and Hove, with a beginner and an intermediate level? This is your chance to learn Ivrit from scratch or to brush up your existing Hebrew skills. Be able to order a meal in a restaurant in Jerusalem, ask for directions in Jaffa’s alleyways, chat up someone on Tel Aviv beach... all these exciting possibilities are awaiting you! has been one of the most fun, funny and satisfying to teach. Although there are varying levels of intermediate Hebrew abilities within the group, everyone has made tremendous progress. In addition, we have started a complete beginners’ class on Thursdays. Classes run at the Reform synagogue, from 7.00 to 9.00 pm. More details on the adverts and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 8 Sussex and the City 9 A Jewish School for Brighton & Hove – A Viable Proposition? by David Shinegold A range of government-funded Jewish schools exists in this country. These include Charedi schools which teach children solely from the ultra-orthodox communities, and Free schools which offer faith places for Jewish children and invite applications from children of other faiths and beliefs. On the whole, children who attend Jewish schools value the education that is provided and enjoy sharing their schooling with other Jewish children. In today’s educational climate, the government’s policy is to provide the funding necessary to build and run faith schools. Recently, a new Jewish Primary School, Mosaic, was opened in Roehampton, South West London, using the government funding that was available. In the short time it has been open, the school’s success has attracted increasing numbers of pupils, including non-Jewish children, from the locality and surrounding areas, and it continues to thrive, having grown steadily from its initial intake of around twenty pupils. Whilst the Brighton & Hove Jewish communities are viewed as largely ageing communities, it is true to say that there is a substantial core of younger families with children living in the area who bring an enthusiastic vibrancy to our communities. In a recent survey, a considerable number of these families indicated that they would welcome the opportunity to send their children to a Jewish school if one existed in Brighton & Hove. Given the positive indications of interest that have been forthcoming and the potential benefits that a Jewish school would bring to our communities, such as building confidence in being Jewish in Brighton & Hove and promoting greater understanding and acceptance, this could be the catalyst that encourages families to move to Brighton & Hove and ensure a sustainable future for our Jewish Community. We have heard from the developers of the New Church Road site that they anticipate that some of the facilities to be incorporated into the new development will attract Jewish families to Brighton & Hove. Enquiries have already been received from outside this area about the possibility of opening a Jewish school here. At a recent meeting with officers from the education department in Brighton & Hove, surprise was expressed that there isn’t currently a Jewish school here and indicated that the department could be interested in supporting such a proposal. Given the positive indications of interest that have been forthcoming and the potential benefits that a Jewish school would bring to our communities, it is important to seek the opinions of all of those in our community who have a view about such a project. We seek the views of both younger members together with those who have had a longer experience of the community with the wealth of knowledge that they have accumulated over the years. In order to facilitate an open discussion and to decide whether or not to proceed with what will prove to be a time-consuming, complex but ultimately rewarding issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 and beneficial development, an open meeting has been arranged to which everyone will be welcome. The main speaker will be Shirley Lee, who played a major role in establishing the Mosaic Jewish Primary School in Roehampton and who will be able to explain the process of accessing government funding and establishing a Jewish school. She will also answer any questions we have about the tasks and challenges of creating a Jewish school in Brighton & Hove. The meeting will take place at 8.15pm on Tuesday 13th November and the venue will be confirmed by email when you register your intention to attend by sending an email with the names and telephone numbers of those wishing to attend to info@bhjewishschool.org. We do feel that there is a role for all the Jewish Communities in Brighton & Hove in deciding the viability of developing a Jewish school here and we would very much welcome your involvement in reaching a collaborative decision. Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation at Ralli Hall. Tel: 01273 202254 or rallihallcentre@gmail.com 8 Sussex and the City 9 A Tribute to Jill Richards by her daughter, Judy There are many words that you may associate with Mum such as: efficient, organized, stoical, practical, logical, hands-on, resourceful and so on. This is what I call stage 1 Mum – the growing up phase. At the time, it was hard for me to understand where I came from, as most of these are not words that would have been associated to me back then. But as I grew up, I realized that she was simply giving me the life skills that I would need later on and for that I will be forever grateful. As the years went on, our relationship changed and we started to have more of a ‘friendship’ – this is phase 2 Mum. Here, I learnt more words to describe her: discreet, supportive, hard-working, elegant, innovative, creative, mentor and fiercely loyal. I went to live in Israel in 1992, and although I know now that it broke her heart a little, she did not show me anything other than 100% support. But Mum really found her forte as a grandmother and has had the most immense pleasure from each and every one of her 10 unique grandchildren. I remember telling her that I was pregnant with Gal over 22 years ago, by asking her what she would like to be called: Granny, Grandma, Nanna etc. We both knew straight from the outset that she would be Grandy – the name of the main character from one of our favourite books – A Woman of Substance. Looking back now – we could not have found a more suitable name - for Mum was nothing, if not a woman of the most incredible substance. Mum has been with me every step of the way, so it was completely natural, that I would be with her every step of the way in the final stage of our relationship – I call this inseparable Mum as, by this point, we were inextricably intertwined. Here are some stage 3 words to describe this incredible woman: appreciative, emotional, warm, dignified, determined, loving, devoted, funny, humble, strong and unbelievably brave. If there is a tagline that I can think of to best describe her attitude over the last 4 years it would be this: don’t make a drama out of a crisis. She would say, it is what it is so now, let’s make the best of it, and we certainly did that. You, Dad and Mum gave the 4 of us, and our 10 children, a shining example of what a marriage can be – what a true partnership looks like and your love, care and attention (and dare I say patience!) during this trying time have been nothing short of awe-inspiring. You have been more than a rock and I know you know no matter how hard Mum found some days, her respect, love and admiration for you knew no bounds. And finally, to Mum – it has been my honour and privilege to stand by your side and be a part of your incredible life. In the words of Bette Midler: issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Did you know that you’re my hero, And everything I would like to be? I can fly higher than an eagle, For you are the wind beneath my wings From Joan and David Melcher The poet Kahil Gibran wrote of friendship: “Your friend is your needs answered” and how true this is of our enduring friendship with both Jill and Ivor. Over time we became a close foursome, enjoying many happy moments, at the theatre, concerts or holidays, mainly cruising. Although we did not share Jill’s interest in bridge or golf (in both of which she excelled), we were happy to be together, eating out, laughing and discussing world affairs. Jill had a wonderful smile which lit up a room. She never liked to be the centre of attention. Behind her quiet mien was a heart of gold, generous to a fault in her friendships and the community to which she contributed a great deal, always unobtrusively. Friendships like Jill’s are few and far between, we will miss her terribly... Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board provides affordable accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy and a one bedroom unfurnished flat suitable for a couple. The rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points. For further information or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com If you would like to save money on your home/business expenses with a Which? recommended supplier, please contact David Schaverien tel: 01273 779001 email: Theschav@uwclub.net 10 Sussex and the City 11 Your Views Letters to the Editor Historical Synagogues Your readers may wish to know that Middle Street is the fourth Synagogue in Brighton, not the third as stated on page 6 of the September issue of SJN. The first was rooms in a house in Jew Street in about 1792, although there is no documentary evidence as to its exact location. However, a map of 1808 does give the exact location of the second Synagogue, also rooms in a house, in Poune’s Court, off West Street. The third is therefore Devonshire Place, initially in 1825 in two houses, but by 1838 was our first purpose-built Synagogue, and designed by David Mocatta. Thus, Middle Street (of 1875) is the fourth in this City. Some years ago, I researched all the places in Brighton & Hove in which have been held regular Jewish Services. There were then some 16, plus many other places in which occasional Services had been held. These lists were published in SJN at that time. Yours sincerely, Godfrey R Gould On Holland Road Just a thought concerning the ongoing Holland Road/ New Church Road saga. Kalman Fausner and Rabbi Wilner worked extremely hard to build up the membership of this lovely Orthodox Synagogue in Holland Road. Spreading good cheer with a bottle of scotch for porters in blocks of flats to inform them when Jewish families moved in. They probably invented ‘cold calling’! I’m sure you’ll say this is ancient history, but isn’t that what Judaism is - wonderfully historic? Rabbi Samuel is providing spiritual guidance with his inspirational sermons and splendid voice. I do think it would be tragic for this beautiful building to be pulled down. Anne Fausner issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Talk instead of walk Regarding the feature on whether Jews should start packing their bags (JC, August 10), are people really going to give up on 350 years of tolerance of Jews in the UK and the incredibly rich Jewish cultural and economic life here, just because some old Marxist at war with his own party happens to be Leader of the Opposition? Is Israel really a better and safer place to live, with real antisemites on two of its borders wanting to destroy the country, which is why Israelis have to serve in the army? Say what you like about Her Majesty’s Opposition, they are not likely to create an environment that Israelis have to deal with on a daily basis. Also, Labour are not yet near power. Mr Corbyn needs to win about 40 marginal seats in places that currently vote Conservative, like Dudley, Swindon and Milton Keynes. The most likely result will be another no-score draw, disappointment for both parties and the eventual change of both leaders. We need to fight against extreme and over-the-top discussion. What we need is some calm moderation to return, not just to public discourse, but also to politics in general; calm reflection and consideration rather than ranting or shock-filled editorials. Our sages said much of following “the middle path”, we should certainly reflect on that in relation to our future in this country. Gordon Kay 10 Features 11 Dr Davis by Yael Breuer there were long working hours and many threatened to walk out. I liked working for the NHS but felt the need to expand into other health professional areas as well,” he explains. “I turned to Occupational Medicine and became involved in the health In the year in which the NHS is of workers in celebrating its 70th anniversary, a their workplaces, which included doctor from Hove who qualified just British Gas, the National Institute weeks before the birth of the NHS, for Medical Research and local has not hung up his white coat yet. authorities. Then I became Dr Neville Davis MBE, 93, who lives in Hove, is thought to be the UK’s oldest working doctor. Originally from London, Dr Neville attended Whittingham College, a Jewish boarding school originally in Hove, Brighton and then Handcross. He subsequently lived and practised in London, but moved back to Hove eleven years ago with his wife, Kathryn. interested in Clinical Forensic Medicine and worked for the Metropolitan Police from 1966 until 2009. I am still active as an independent expert witness in cases involving sexual and other assaults. I was instrumental in establishing the Section of Clinical Forensic Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine and became its first President.” “I qualified in 1948 and started my own practice in 1950 in New Southgate. While most family doctors in those days practised from home, I turned an old barber’s shop into a surgery, and Over the years, Dr Davis has held numerous prestigious positions, including Vice-President of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is also a past-president of the Medico-Legal Society. subsequently, having taken a “One big difference between the partner, moved into a custom-built NHS then and now”, he says, “is medical practice where we saw that today, with so many rules patients and trained other GPs,” and regulations, the doctor’s says Dr Davis. individuality has been somewhat Even in those days, according to Dr Davis, many GPs were feeling unsupported and dissatisfied with the NHS for similar reasons to those of today. “Funds were lacking, taken away. Today’s structured guidelines are largely a good thing, but I used to like the fact that my colleagues and I could use our own judgement, individual experience issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 and intuition in a way that GPs today may not be able to exercise.” Dr Davis recalls that, in times of big epidemics like ‘flu, measles, mumps and polio, he and his partners would cope with up to 30 home visits a day. Rotas were arranged with neighbouring practices to cover half-days and week-ends. “Later on, call-services became available, but we had to fund them. Today’s centralised services, particularly with the use of paramedics, are appreciably more efficient.” In 2000 Dr Davis was appointed MBE for his services to medicine. He regards himself as “a secular, non-practising Jew, but I feel very Jewish emotionally and in my attitude to life.” His parents came to the UK from Minsk at the turn of the 20th century, but he is aware that many family members who remained in Russia perished in the Holocaust. He remembers a traditional, kosher home and that his father was Senior Warden in the North London Synagogue in Lofting Road, Islington. There were often thirty or more family members at Passover Seders. Dr Davis, fit and active in spite of a recent heart attack, still contributes to local activities. He has been treasurer of the local Macmillan Cancer Support Committee and president of the Hove Probus Club for retired professional and business men, where he has just taken on the job as treasurer. He says charities and similar organisations need as much voluntary help as they can get, and age should be no bar. 12 Features 13 Yuval Harari and Religion by Jeremy Rosen I have always enjoyed reading books that challenge my preconceptions. Whether it was Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, Pinker, or all the other atheists who rubbished religion, I read them with interest, to see if they could challenge my faith or get me to reassess my arguments. They rarely did, because the straw man of religion that they set up to destroy just wasn’t my religious position at all. Mine was not based on myths or fear of being struck down by heaven or going to hell. It was neither exceptionalist nor exclusive. It was not a fundamentalist or genocidal. All things that they accused religion of. If it was true that awful crimes had been committed in the name of religion, so had they been in the names of Marxism, atheism, and any other ism. Even in the name of football! All humans were and are imperfect to one degree or another. My religion was not a perfect answer to all of life’s problems or in a belief that a Divine Superman would come down from heaven to save me from my indiscretions or those of others. It was based on experience, feeling, study, and a framework for living that maintained a connection with my history and community and got me to think about my behaviour and try my best to improve it. I certainly accepted that humans could be good people without religion; it was just that I thought they would be missing out on an important spiritual dimension that adds something more to the complexity and tapestry of life. One can live without music, too. Yuval Harari is the latest champion of this secularist cause. I enjoyed reading his book Sapiens. Its broad sweep of human evolution was fascinating. He offered a range of possibilities on many issues before coming down on the side of one or the other. And he stimulated me to read more, so that I soon discovered that issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 many experts greater than him completely disagreed on a range of fundamentals. I was disappointed with his next book Homo Deus. Not for the analysis or description of how machines, artificial intelligence, would radically change us and our world. But rather with his confident assertion that there was neither need nor room for spirituality, or what different people mean by God. When someone can confidently assert that something that makes no sense to them cannot make sense to anyone else, this seems hubristic and illogical. I agree I cannot prove to a sceptic that God exists. But I don’t understand how anyone can assert with utter confidence that God does not. All one can say is that it makes no sense to them. In his latest book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari returns to discuss the challenges of the future and once again misrepresents religion when it suits him. For example, he confidently asserts that “mainstream Judaism...maintains that the entire cosmos exists just so that...rabbis can study their holy scriptures, and that if Jews cease this practice, the universe will come to an end” (p.186). Really? Some might. I don’t. Not literally, and I regard myself as mainstream. Many ideas expressed in Midrashic thought are metaphorical or allegorical, not literal. “This,” he says, “is a central article of faith of Orthodox Jews”. Strange that Maimonides or any other of the great rabbis who formulated Principles of Jewish Faith never thought to mention it. Do “secular Jews...too believe that the Jewish people are the central heroes of history and the ultimate wellspring of human morality, spirituality, and learning”? Really? And if there are indeed some Jews who think they are automatically better or more spiritual, most of those I mix with certainly do not. And Harari seems to think that all Orthodox Jews read the Bible literally, with no nuance or commentary. He says, “Prior to 1800 the Jewish impact on science was limited.” Is he not aware that all universities then were religious institutions and that, with rare exceptions, Jews were banned from them and from the non-Jewish intellectual world? As if a Jew in Eastern Europe had much of a chance of participating with the world’s intellectuals, until perhaps Mendelssohn or exceptional cases in parts of Italy in the benign pockets of the Islamic world. Yet, to my great surprise, without realizing it perhaps, he actually manages to find something positive to say about Orthodox Judaism. In talking about AI and the threat it poses to jobs, he discusses forms of universal basic support. It is not a bad idea in theory. It might answer the purely financial challenge of mass unemployment. But not the psychological one that many could end up without purpose, vegetate or turn to violence. This is his surprising opinion: “Perhaps the most successful experiment so far in how to live a contented life in a post-work world has been conducted in Israel. [He is obvious ignorant of American and European Orthodoxy.] ... about 50 percent of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men never work. They dedicate their lives to studying holy scriptures... They and their families don’t starve ...they don’t lack the basic necessities of life. “...Although they are poor and unemployed, in survey after survey these ultra-Orthodox Jewish men report higher levels of life satisfaction than any other section of Israeli society. This is due to the strength of community bonds as well as a deep meaning they find in studying scripture and performing rituals. A small room 12 Features 13 full of Jewish men discussing the quest for meaning and community Talmud might well generate more might eclipse the quest for a job.” joy, engagement, and insight than a (pages 42-43) huge textile sweatshop... Well, there you have it. Orthodox “Secular Israelis often complain Judaism could offer something bitterly that the ultra-Orthodox don’t after all. Even if it is by no means contribute enough to society... the whole answer. Many Orthodox Sooner or later, the state will Jews are simply not intellectually not be able to support so many or temperamentally suited to lives unemployed people...Yet it might of study. And as for the benefits be just the reverse. As robots and AI of closed communities, or indeed push humans out of the job market, subservience to community norms the ultra-Orthodox Jews may come and limitations, they work well to be seen as the model for the for some, but by no means for future rather than a fossil from the everyone. He might also have past....in the lives of all people, the added the fact that very Orthodox Henry Solomon 1794-1844 by Godfrey Gould issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 people who do not use technology on Sabbaths and festivals might be even more relevant nowadays for mental health, as we and our children seem incapable of surviving one hour without our iPhones and iPads, let alone twenty-five. By all means attack religions. Particularly religious power structures. They corrupt too and need to be challenged. What Harari attacks is his own biased, misleading caricature of religions. That only weakens his case rather than undermining the faith of those who can think for themselves. The recent Service at his grave at Florence Place Cemetery to mark the 50th anniversary of Sussex Police, and a request for a copy of my speech (there isn’t one) has prompted me now to write of him, if only for the sake of inclusivity. Henry Solomon was born in London (probably the East End) in 1794 and trained to be a watchmaker. In 1821 he came to Brighton and here married Martha, one of the daughters of Emanuel Hyam Cohen, a Schoolmaster who owned two schools, and is credited with being the founder of the Brighton Jewish community. Of his brothers-in-law, Levi Emanuel Cohen was the founder, proprietor, Manager and editor of the outstanding campaigning newspaper, the ‘Brighton Gazette’. Another, Hyam Lewis, a naturalised immigrant from Prague (and an ancestor of Lord Cohen of Brighton) was the first professing Jew to be elected to public Office in this country - he was a Town Commissioner of Brighton. Henry, also, involved himself fully in the affairs of the Jewish community and became an Elder, a Trustee, and at the time of his death was the Vice President of the Brighton Hebrew Congregation. But it is his work for the whole community that he is better remembered. In 1822 he was appointed, at an annual salary of £50, Inspector of Post Horse Duty. Other appointments followed, some consecutive, some concurrent, Superintendent of Hackney Coaches, Bathing Machines and Pleasure Boats in 1823, responsibility for the watering of roads in 1826, the same year as Inspector of Nuisances, and in 1827 Inspector of Gas Lighting. Then, with Mr William Pilbeam, Joint Officer of the Watch until, in 1832 with the establishment of the Brighton Police, they were appointed Joint Chief Officers. In 1838 William Pilbeam retired leaving Henry the first sole Chief Officer of the Force, now with an annual salary of £200, plus £80 ‘perks’. All this was to end most tragically on 13 March 1844. At about 8pm that day a young man named John Lawrence was brought in to Henry’s office in Brighton Town Hall, having been taken into custody upon stealing a carpet from a shop in St James’s Street. Lawrence appeared to be somewhat disturbed, so the Chief Constable invited him to sit by the fire to calm himself. Thereupon, Lawrence picked up a poker and hit Henry about the head with it. As there were a Constable and three other people in the office at the time, the culprit was immediately apprehended. Henry was taken to his home but died the following day. Two days later, following an inquest, Henry Solomon was buried at Florence Place Cemetery where his fine gravestone has now been magnificently restored. The Town of Brighton gave him a public funeral, and launched a Testimonial Fund to support his widow and many children. Five hundred Pounds was given by the Town itself, £50 by Queen Victoria and 50 guineas by the Brighton Hebrew Congregation. A total of £1,030- 14-0d (£1,030.70p.) was raised. John Lawrence was tried for murder at Lewes Assizes, and, although a plea of insanity was offered in his defence, the presence of four witnesses ensured his conviction. The trial lasted three hours and the jury took 12 minutes to reach their verdict without even leaving the jury box. John Lawrence was hanged outside Horsham Gaol on the first Saturday in April 1844. In his address at the Commemoration Service on 1 July 2018, Rabbi Hershel Rader quoted Jeremiah’s message to the exiled Jews in Babylon some 2,500 years ago, “And seek the peace of the City in which I have exiled you and pray for it unto the Lord, for in its peace you shall have peace”. (Ch 29,v 7). This was the message upon which Henry Solomon devoted his life, seeking the peace of the City in which he had been exiled. And the whole community benefited therefrom. 14 Features 15 Zeh Rak Da’ati - 3 by Godfrey R Gould “Who is Samuel, where is he?” Do you like a bit of detective work? Then read on. Even if you don’t like it, you can still read on. I’m a bit of a historian. And I know that if you state an historical fact, you have to back it up with hard evidence. So when I read in SJN’s September/October edition, page 6 “The first recorded Jewish presence in our locality was Samuel of Norwich 1267” my history antennae started twitching. The key word, of course, is ‘recorded’ - where is it recorded and by whom? Where is the evidence for this statement? It is all new to me and indeed to others with similar interests. The first instinct is to see what is recorded on line. I know that Norwich was famed for having a Jewish community in mediaeval times, and indeed there is much on this in Wikipedia and elsewhere. But nothing at all on anybody called Samuel, still less on any connection with Sussex. However, a chance remark indicated that maybe the source of this information lies in an article by Councillor Robert Nemeth. So I contacted Robert and he kindly sent me a copy of his article, with some comment, and the source of his information - “The Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade” by Judy Middleton. Robert’s article on ‘Palmiera Court’ was published in May 2014 and in it he observed that the first record of the Wick Estate was in 1267 when it was mortgaged by Samuel of Norwich. Robert actually wondered whether the date should be 1567, but I pointed out to him actually not likely, as then officially there were no Jews in England. So, next to Judy’s Encyclopaedia. A tremendous piece of work bound together into four large volumes. There is no Index, so a bit more investigative work, until I found the quote in the Section on ‘The Wick Estate’ Volume 15, page 86, published in 2007, thus “the earliest issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 mention of the land occurred in 1247 when it was described as being mortgaged by Samuel, son of Isaac the Jew of Norwich”. Now we can proceed! First note that the date is wrong, 1247 not 1267. And that there is no mention of Samuel having being present in our locality. The Wick Estate was a large tract of land between the sea front, roughly the current Brighton/Hove boundary, maybe up to the Old Shoreham Road, and west therefrom. An uncultivated and perhaps wild area with a few farms and smallholdings - and one Hall (Domesday Book 1086, Half Hundred of Aldrington). Indeed, it is from the detailed Inventories in Domesday Book, Hundreds of Benfield, Hangleton and Porstlade and Half Hundred of Aldrington that we can build up a picture of the area in early mediaeval times - ownership, population, economic activity, equipment and value. Portslade, for example, the least of them, had two villagers, was worth 60 pence (in today’s money) and did not pay any tax! There was also half a plough - where on earth was the other half? The Encyclopaedia has a very extensive Bibliography but is not referenced. It might be possible to identify the original source, but that could take a great deal of time with no certainty of a positive result. But back to Samuel and Norwich. There was a Jewish Community in Norwich from 1135, but they did not have a happy time. (Actually, there is mention of Isaac the Jew in Norwich in 1086, but he is a one- off). In 1144, the Blood Libel was invoked in the murder of William (later St. William) for which the local Jews were blamed. And in 2004 there were discovered 17 skeletons, six adults and 11 children, down an old well. Professor Sue Black of the University of Dundee identified them as from one Jewish family thrown down the well in the 12th or 13th century, but dead or alive we don’t know. Generally, Jews in England in the 13th century could not own land and could not farm, the principle economic activity then and indeed up to the early 19th century. So what was a Jew from Norwich doing with open land in Sussex? There are two possibilities of his involvement locally. The most likely is that he was a money lender, a common occupation for Jews in those days, lending money to somebody to buy the land. But just maybe he was lending money to a non-Jew to buy it, but on his behalf. Perhaps he thought having land was better than hoarding his money where it was likely to be stolen and/ or taxed. Little did he know that in 1290 he would leave England without money or land. But could he have been “in our locality”? Not really. We know from the researches by the late Sir Martin Gilbert, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and the most pre-eminent Anglo-Jewish historian of recent times, that at this time there were Jews in Rye, Winchelsea, Arundel, Chichester and Bosham. (And they were expelled from Winchelsea before the general expulsion). These were all significant places in mediaeval Sussex. From the same source as Portslade above we know, for example, that Bosham then had 39 villagers, 50 smallholders and 17 slaves. There were a church, a mill, two fisheries, woodland and much else besides. The value of Bosham was £40 and it payed tax valued at £65. Although Bristelstune, the original name, was much less of a settlement, tribute was 4,000 herrings! So, from such evidence as I can derive, it seems highly unlikely that there were then any Jews (even visiting) in our locality. But there is a twist in this tale. In 1883 there was buried in Florence Place Cemetery ‘Samuel Jacobs formerly of Norwich’. But he was six centuries too late. 14 Features 15 Memories of a Refugee by Freddy Lind I happened to be a schoolboy aged 9 in Berlin in November 1938 during a Nazi mini pogrom, which came to be known as Kristallnacht, as so many glass-fronted shops were smashed that night. My father had come to Berlin after WW1, having served in the Austrian army. He was an enthusiastic property entrepreneur, mortgaging one block of flats to purchase the next, owning a petrol import firm, a chrome-plating outfit and a dental surgery. My maternal grandfather was born in Vyborg (Finland) and moved to Berlin, avoiding recruitment to the Russian army. My mother was born in Berlin. My parents were married in Berlin in 1923 and by 1932 we were a family of three brothers, I being the middle one. In 1933 Hitler came to power promising to make Germany great again (!) by offering employment and blaming the Jews for the impoverished state of Germany after the economy was crippled by the loss of manpower after WW1. The 1929 Wall Street crash had compounded the misery and led to Hitler’s rise to power. The Nazis murdered or imprisoned any potential troublemakers and the secret Police terrorised the public. Jews were expelled from the professions and universities and coffee houses no longer welcomed Jews. We continued to attend our Jewish School but both teachers and pupils regularly diminished in numbers. Anyone who could leave did so. A brief respite from the antisemitic outbursts occurred during the 1936 Berlin Olympic games in order to display German physical prowess to the world. In 1938 at Munich Hitler agreed with Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, to make no further territorial demands so that Chamberlain came back to England clutching a sheet of paper, ‘Peace in Our Time’. However, Hitler promptly thereafter annexed the Sudetenland. Earlier in 1938 the Germans had marched into Austria which released more antisemitic violence in Vienna. The League of Nations made ineffective protests. Kristallnacht signalled the organised resumption of antiisemitic behaviour. The date was November 9-10 1938. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 The burning of our Synagogue in Pestalozzi Strasse was confined to the interior of the Synagogue as it had been built within a residential courtyard unlike the prestige buildings of the Oranienburg Strasse or Fasanenstrasse Synagogue which were still burning several days later. School was on hold and we had to stay indoors for several days. It was time to leave our home in Berlin. The Kindertransports had begun soon after Kristallnacht. One train left Berlin Tiergarten station on 22 August 1939. This train carried several hundred children including my two brothers and myself. A very sad moment was when my Grandmother told us that she would never see us again. She was right. We arrived in Harwich by ship from Holland on 23 August 1939 to be greeted by a friendly policeman in a tall hat - such a contrast from the German Police. We went by train from Harwich to Liverpool Street and then on to Leeds where a most generous and hospitable Jewish community welcomed us. About 100 boys were provided with accommodation in a hostel in Steinbeck Lane, run on strictly orthodox lines. Fridays there meant a new experience for me, a Mikveh, in a local swimming pool, which we approached by passing an area where there was a most peculiar smell. This turned out to be from the local brewery! The many Jewish tailors provided new suits for the High Holidays. We learnt English with a Yorkshire accent in rapid time so as to access the delights of Tizer and fish and chips. We were fortunate; my parents arrived in England on flights from Holland with visitor permits on 1 September 1939 and bought a house in Finchley. We were reunited as a family in August 1940 just when the Luftwaffe started raiding the London docks. My elementary school was in Childs Hill and secondary school was Tollington in Highgate. Bar Mitzvah was at Kinloss and Talmud Torah at Munks in Golders Green. There I met Louis Jacobs and Alex Carlebach who were both assistant Rabbis. Some twenty years later in 1964 Eleanor and I joined the New London Synagogue. 16 17 Ryan’s Great-Great Grandfather by Ryan Walker My Nana Doreen’s grandfather was called Maurice Rumbar: he was born in Russia in 1880. His Hebrew name was Samuel Moishe Ben Ephraim. I have chosen to find out about him as he was a Cantor and was known as Reverend Maurice Rumbar. Maurice and his wife Dinah emigrated to England at the turn of the 19th century. Many Jewish families began to leave the Russian Empire in order to escape conscription into the Russian army. Although the family does not know anything about their journey across Russia and Europe, I think it would have been very difficult and sometimes dangerous for them to travel all that way to a strange country with a different language, customs, food and climate. As Russian names were often misspelt at the point of entry to the United Kingdom at the time of his arrival, his name was altered to Morris Rember. Morris settled in the East End of London where his five children were born. He and Dinah had two sons, Lou, born in 1904 and Issy, whose year of birth is unknown. They also had three daughters, the eldest being Leah, who was born in 1909, Tammy and then Deborah. Leah was my Nana Doreen’s mother and is my great-grandmother. Morris acted as a shomer and cantor, singing the prayers issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 and leading the choirs in many synagogues. He spent his years heavily involved in the synagogues in the East End of London such as Fieldgate Synagogue, Nelson Street Synagogue and Philpot Street Synagogue, to name a few. This area in London was the heart of the immigrant community at that time and Morris was very well known in the area. As there were five children in the family to clothe, feed and look after, Morris supplemented his income with extra work such as tailoring. His first wife Dinah died on the 10th of February 1950 aged 64. He later married Sonja on the 16th of October 1952 in Philpot Street synagogue. They lived at flat 4, 219 Commercial Road. (This information was vital in tracing him through the Federation of Synagogues.) He died aged 76 years old on the 18th of May 1956 and was buried in Edmonton cemetery under the name MORRIS REMBER. I think it must have been very difficult for my great great grandfather to move far from his home in Russia to England where the culture and way of life was very different. He knew he had to find a job, somewhere to live and to create a new way of life for him and his family. He worked hard and did his best to ensure his children and later grandchildren were given opportunities that they would not have had if they had stayed in Russia. It has been interesting for me to research the synagogues in which he sang and to find out about how vibrant the Jewish community was in the East End at that time. There were many shuls, Jewish shops and businesses in the area, and most people lived nearby. I think that Maurice was probably well known as he was a cantor in many shuls - perhaps there are some people in our shul community that have links to the East End at the time whose families may have heard him sing. It is thanks to the courage and determination of Maurice and many others of his generation that my family is able to live in freedom and peace now and hopefully for many generations to come. 16 17 issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Present ‘Love Notes’ featuring lots of lovely songs from the shows and the charts. At Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove 12th January 2019 at 7.30 pm 13th January at 2.30 pm Tickets £10.00 will be available from 1st November 2018 £6.00 for under 12s. Contact Laura on 01273 722173 UK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL 8-22 November 2018 www.ukjewishfilm.org Brighton Screenings: Promise at Dawn, La Promesse de l’Aube (an ode to mother-child relationships) Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton Wednesday 28 November 8.30 pm The Testament (An engrossing thriller) Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton Thursday 29 November at 8.30 pm 18 19 Intrigue: The Ratline The BBC has been telling the inside story of how Otto von Wächter, a leading Nazi, escaped justice. Intrigue: The Ratline is a 10-part podcast and Radio 4 series. The presenter is Philippe Sands, the international barrister and author of the award- winning non-fiction book, East West Street. Around 80 members of Sands’ family were murdered by the Nazis in occupied Galicia, while Wächter was governor of the region. Wächter was twice indicted for war crimes, accused of involvement in the murder of over 100,000 people. Philippe tells his story with the help of thousands of letters between Otto and Charlotte, which are read in the series by Stephen Fry and Laura Linney. He gained access to the letters after striking up an unlikely friendship with Otto’s son, Horst, who lives alone in a 14th century castle in Austria. Along with Horst, he retraces how Otto planned to flee to South America on the “ratline”, the name for the informal escape route for ex-Nazis after the war. They discover how he managed to survive for three years in the Austrian mountains, while being hunted by the Allies – and how he came into contact with an American espionage ring while in Rome, with insights provided by Britain’s best-known spy writer. Photo taken by Philippe Sands of a book given to Otto von Wächter by Himmler While Philippe sees the evidence of Wächter’s crimes as overwhelming, Horst believes that his father was an After the war, Wächter escaped and hid for four years before dying suddenly in Rome, while under the protection of a senior Roman Catholic Bishop. The innocent civil servant who had no direct responsibility for Nazi atrocities. The tension between the two friends echoes through the series. bishop asserted – and Otto’s widow Charlotte believed – that he had been poisoned on the orders of American agents. The episodes are available from https//www.bbc.co.uk/ programmes/p04sj2pt. The Series Editor is Hugh Levinson. Funny Girl On Sunday 9th December, we present an afternoon showing of the Classic Musical Drama, FUNNY GIRL, starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, and Walter Pidgeon. The film remains, despite its age, one of the best performances that Streisand has given. Nevertheless, it is still a highly enjoyable movie as Barbra sings her way through so many memorable songs including, People, I’m the Greatest Star, and Don’t Rain on my Parade. Barbra plays the part of Fanny Brice, who is seen as a stage-struck teenager, who gets her first job in vaudeville. She meets the suave Nick Arnstein, played by Omar Sharif. They become romantically involved, and Fanny’s career begins to flourish when she becomes a star. Unfortunately for Fanny, Nick issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 has a shady past as a gambler, but that doesn’t deter her from wanting to marry him. Please note the time - 3pm. There will be an intermission, when we will be serving tea/coffee/etc. Free to Ralli Hall members and full- time students, otherwise £4 For more information contact David Bresh at breshdavid1@gmail.com Culture 18 19 issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 20 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 21 BrightonReform Are we Jew – ish? by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo What are we? Jewish? Why Jewish and not Jews? Christians do not call themselves Christian-ish. Muslims do not call themselves Muslim-ish. We Jews are different. We say we are Jew- ish. As if we need to make the three letters J-E-W somehow less demanding. We are Jew, but not that much -ish. Why? Is it because we are afraid of antisemitism? Let’s face it, in English literature Jews are not good characters. Think of Shylock, in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”, or the repellent Fagin, in Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Or the anonymous Jew of Thomas Elliot’s poem, the archetypal greedy landlord, who “squats on the window sill, the owner”, turning the decay of Western civilisation into personal profit. The stereotype is still around. A few months ago, here in Brighton, a local politician posted a video on his Facebook page in which his political opponents were dressed as Hassidic Jews. He wanted to say that these city councillors, all of them Gentiles by the way, were exploiters of the poor. It is chilling to know that in this City, in this proudly multicultural and allegedly tolerant City, people look at us and see the greedy landlord of Thomas Elliot’s poem. The word Jew comes with horrible baggage. But there is another reason why we call ourselves Jewish and not Jews. Being a Jew requires a certain level of literacy, and sophistication, which we do not have. Let’s face it, all this wisdom, these volumes and books written by the Rabbis, are quite intimidating. When we open the Talmud we feel lost, we cannot read the language: is it Hebrew, is it Aramaic? One thing we know, though. That Judaism has a lot of precepts and commandments that we expiate on Yom Kippur. It is the circle of the Jewish guilt, the source of wonderful American Jewish literature. Knowing that Judaism has very high standards; failing to uphold such standards; feeling guilty for your failures. It may be great inspiration for arts but it is certainly not exciting to live by. This habit, setting yourself very high goals, and then feeling guilty because you cannot achieve them, is hardly the recipe for a spiritual life. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 But we have the opportunity to break such a cycle. Remember the words that were said at the very beginning of Kol Nidre? Anu matirin lehitpallel im ha ha-’avarianim “We give permission to pray with the transgressors”, the ‘avarianim’. We know we all are ‘avarianim’. We all have, one way or another, transgressed or neglected this or that Jewish practice of Judaism. Yet, at the beginning of Yom Kippur we give ourselves and the community, the permission to pray together. Committing to do more Jewish things, is the way to break the cycle of guilt. So here is a suggestion from your Rabbi. Pick one mitzvah and make it your purpose for the next year. Like lighting the Shabbat candles, every Shabbat, for one year. Make a habit of it, for the next year. Going to Shul on Shabbat. Make a habit of it, a commitment, for one year. Volunteering with Helping Hands for one year. Through the practice of mitzvot, we can break the cycle of guilt, and be proud and committed Jews. A far more rewarding experience than feeling Jew-ish. It will be an important moment of your personal teshuvah, of your repentance and return. Your community and friends will be grateful for the Judaism, the Jewish commitment you add to their life. And you yourself will probably be, less Jew-ish, and more of a Jew. Bulletin Board – November Saturday 3 Book Club - Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner, 9.15 am Wednesday 7 Rosh Chodesh, 7.30 pm Friday 9 Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 10 Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Sunday 11 AJEX Memorial Service at BHRS, 4.30 pm Saturday 24 Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Shabbat Service and special kiddush for Eileen Field, 10.30 am The diary is subject to change. 20 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 21 Choosing the Right Girl! by Rabbi Hershel Rader The first Sidra in this month of November is called partner. In my experience, nowadays the majority of Chayei Sarah – the Life of Sarah, a seemingly couples meet online, not through the efforts of their paradoxical name as the Sidra deals with the aftermath parents’ servants. What should remain the same is the of Sarah’s death. Interestingly, we often speak more focus on what is important for a successful marriage. about people and the lives they lead after their have Our Sidra teaches that shared values and goodness left us than while they are still with us. Indeed, at the are amongst the most important factors and that hasn’t beginning of our Sidra we are told that ‘Avraham came changed in over 4000 years. to weep for Sarah and to eulogise her’. Although the Torah does not share with us the content of this eulogy, we can imagine the very special relationship between Avraham and Sarah, not only as husband and wife in the conventional sense of those times, but also as partners in Avraham’s revolutionary venture to spread his monotheistic belief system and values of kindness and hospitality. Which brings us to the next, and main, part of the Sidra - the quest to find a wife for Avraham’s son Yitzchak. Avraham dispatches his trusted servant Eliezer to find the girl who will be the next matriarch of the Jewish people. Eliezer prays to G-d, requesting an omen which will indicate the right girl. He suggests that if he asks a girl for water and she replies that she will also give water to his camels this will confirm that she is the girl destined to marry his master’s son. We know the rest of the story and how he brings Rivka to marry Yitzchak. Was this ‘omen’ just a random choice or did it hold some significance? Clearly Eliezer was aware of Avraham’s values and lifestyle and he knew that a fitting life partner for the son who would be entrusted with Avraham’s spiritual legacy would have to excel in the hospitality and kindness which characterised Avraham and Sarah’s existence. Therefore his suggested ‘omen’ was also a test of the girl’s virtues in this regard. The choice of Yitzchak’s mate was fundamental to continuing those things that made the Life of Sarah so special, making that a fitting name for the Sidra. Over the four millennia since this narrative unfolded much has changed; including how we pick our life’s Events at BHHC: November-December 2018 Catered Lunch & Learn Our Weekly Shiurim Wednesday 7 November at 12.15 pm Wednesday 5 December at 12.15 pm 3-course lunch – cost £7.50 Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Friday Night Dinner 16 November – time to be advised 14 December – time to be advised Wednesdays, 12.30 - 1.30 pm. Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. Cost £15.00 – spaces limited Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Chanukah Dinner – Saltbeef ‘n’ Latkes Sunday 9 December Ladies’ Shiur (no charge). Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah Watch for further details, time and cost to be advised. (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is Please call the shul office 01273 888855 to book and for further information. followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 22 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 23 Judaism is not a pacifist religion by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer “Bugles sang, saddening the evening air; And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear. to the Rebbe (Rabbi) and the Rebbe would sit (not as a Lawyer or a Judge in the conventional English sense), he would sit with each of them and he would try to Voices of boys were by the river-side. Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad. bring about peace. He would try “OSEH SHALOM”, that we say is our highest value because we attempt to create in this world, on this earth, a world which is The shadow of the morrow weighed on men. Voices of old despondency resigned, as near as may be possible, to Olam Haba (The world to come). We get closest to it on Shabbat and we constantly try to eliminate conflict. Whereas the idea Bowed by the shadow of the morrow, slept.” of making Peace today, in the 21st Century does not seem to be such a revolutionary idea, 2000 years ago Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, (1893 – 1918) War Poetry. or even 1000 years ago, it certainly was. Many ‘Ancient’ societies regarded warfare as the fate of existence, as the default position. Every year, as the spring arrived Judaism is not a pacifist religion; we are not pacifists. after the winter, the campaigning season started, the We recognise that war is a very bad thing but we do not season of warfare began. To set about creating peace regard it as evil. Indeed, we have different categories of and pursuing peace was an idea that was millennia war, we have commanded wars and we have voluntary ahead of its time. wars, but we recognise the necessity of warfare. That said, we have no higher value than seeking peace. In relation to Israel and the Palestinians today, never has so much ignorance and nonsense been talked by Time and time again, within our Tefilot, within our so many people who know nothing about the conflict. prayers, we say that we are seeking peace, we But the simple truth of the matter is, that there is not pursue peace. We take as our role model the Biblical a single sane person in Israel who does not desire personality of Aaron who spent his entire life making peace. When eventually, the parties bring themselves peace between warring people, because we recognise to come and sit together and to negotiate, then there that human beings are different, that they have will be a peace. And the evidence for this is peace with differences and not everybody’s differences can be Egypt and also with Jordan. Sworn enemies of Israel settled by people sitting down in a civilised English eventually brought themselves to come and make manner over a cup of tea! Some differences become overtures for peace and Israel extended its hand for very, very, acute and we understand this. Some peace. There are Peace Treaties in place which have marriages do not work and we understand that and been upheld. There is no war with Egypt or Jordan we are realistic. When a marriage does not work, we now and the countries are at peace; it may be a say that the marriage was by agreement and therefore diplomatically cold peace, but a Peace is a Peace. consensual, hence divorce is also by agreement and by definition, consensual (At least for the last thousand years). Interestingly, English Law is now, only now, after many, many, centuries, finally catching up with Jewish Law and saying that divorce can be by agreement because it finally recognises that when conflict exists that cannot be resolved then in that instance this is a way out. In my opinion, the root causes of conflict are people. Judaism is very practical about human nature. We don’t expect people to be angels and we are realistic in expecting the worst of people. That’s why we have so very many laws. Many people have the urge to attain power for dominance. People create sociological ideologies, political ideologies or whatever it is that they pursue, for power. Many wars until the 20th Century That is just one example of how we pursue ‘Peace’ and were wars of ‘religion’, in fact the majority of wars we say that peace is not something that just happens, were those of religion. In the 20th Century they were but that we have to pursue ‘Peace - we have to make wars of ideology: a vile Nazi ideology... a vile Japanese peace: “Oseh shalom bimromav Hu ya’aseh shalom...”, ideology... a vile Communist ideology (which the West “He who makes peace in His heavenly abode, may lost sight of because of the bizarre historical accident He create peace etc.”; well we too have to pursue that the Soviet Union found itself fighting in the ranks of peace actively for peace does not just happen. So we the righteous, despite having initially made an alliance regard conflict as a bad thing, but as an inevitable thing with the Nazis!). But the truth is, I think, that whatever and not something that is insoluble; it should not be ideologies they are, whatever motivations they are, the insoluble. We go the extra mile to try to pursue peace. beginning and the end of it is the urge to attain power. In days gone by when communities in Eastern Europe were virtually autonomous (quite differently from today), if two parties had a dispute they would come issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 22 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 23 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 Two Anniversaries by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah For the past four years here in Britain, we have been commemorating the centenary of the First World War. Each year, the nation marks Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. This year, which marks a hundred years since the war ended, both fall on 11th November. At the time, of course, this terrible conflict, which destroyed so many lives, was known simply as ‘The Great War’. It was only when conflict returned to the continent of Europe in 1939 that it gained a new name, designating it as the First World War. 11 November is going to be a very unique moment. For Jews across the world, there is another significant anniversary that immediately precedes it: the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the ‘Night of the Broken Glass’, 9 to 10 November 1938. This year, Kristallnacht falls on Shabbat. So: from Friday evening on the 9th through Sunday 11th: a time for reflection and remembrance. It has been some years now, since there have been any survivors of the First World War to share their testimony with us. Soon, those who lived through Kristallnacht will also no longer be alive to talk about what happened to them. At BHPS, one of those who experienced that terrible moment when the persecution of the Jews of Germany transmuted into a campaign of violence, Rose Cannan, Z”L, sadly died in November 2016 at the age of 94. Fortunately, she wrote her autobiography, In Paris We Sang. A Memoir (Ashgrove Publishing, 2013) which includes her Kristallnacht story, so her testimony has been preserved for present and future generations. We are blessed that among our membership, another Kristallnacht witness is still in our midst: Margarete Mendelsohn. She issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 was only eight years old at the time. Margarete has also written her autobiography: The Nazis Through the Eyes of a Child (My Voice Publishing, 2012). At BHPS, we will be holding a special Shabbat of commemoration to mark the 80th anniversary Kristallnacht, and we are delighted that we will be joined by Rabbi Tamarah Benima and members of the Beit HaChidush congregation in Amsterdam, aware that the Jewish community in the Netherlands lives in the shadow of the Sho’ah to this day. On Erev Shabbat, after the service, Dr David Jünger, Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Sussex, will speak to us about Kristallnacht. The Shabbat morning service will include readings from the memoirs of Rose and Margarete, as well as scholarly accounts from historians, Lucy Dawidowicz and Martin Gilbert. In the afternoon, Margarete will talk to us about her experience. During lunch, we will go upstairs to the library, where one wall is adorned with two portraits by artist, Pauline Lewis. One is of Rose Cannan, the other is of Hans Levy, Z”L, another beloved member of the congregation, who came to England on the kindertransport and died in June 2016. Aware that those who have joined the congregation during the past two years did not meet Rose and Hans, their portraits are now accompanied by brief texts, so everyone will know who they were. Remembrance is vital – and informing ourselves is also essential if we are going to ensure that future generations also remember. Books about the Sho’ah, including Rose’s and Margarete’s autobiographies, will be on display in the foyer and in the library. Zichronam livrachah – May the memory of all those who were murdered be for blessing. Events@BHPS Saturday 10 November – Kristallnacht commemorative event 10.30 am -12.30 pm Shabbat morning service led by Rabbi Elli with commemoration of Kristallnacht also with participation of Beit Ha’Chidush Congregation, Amsterdam. 12.30 – 1.30 Kiddush and Chavurah lunch. 1.30 – 2.00 Margarete Mendelsohn, an eyewitness of Kristallnacht, will be speaking and reading from her book. 2.00 – 2.15 Screening of a 15-minute documentary on Kristallnacht with eye-witness accounts. 2.20-4.10 Screening of ‘Denial’ (1 hr 50 mins). A 2016 film portraying how David Irving, a Holocaust denier sued university Professor Deborah Lipstadt for libel. 4.15 – 4.45 Tea 4.45 – 5.00 Havdalah Important: No admission on the door to non-members of BHPS without prior registration on Eventbrite and accompanying photo ID. (See BHPS website for details) Sunday Nov 25: 10am - 5 pm BHPS Annual Art and Craft Exhibition Collectible original art and prints from Cecil Rice, Sophie Wake, Lisa Green, Rod Yarrow and Lindsey Light. Rarebit Design handmade ceramics, Emma Stanton handcrafted silver jewellery, Angela Evans handmade ceramic tiles, Jo Cranston Textiles, Holly Bell Ceramics, Rachel Barnard unusual jewellery and Nadara Cosmetics. All items available to purchase on the day together with tea, cake and beautiful cards. BHPS proudly presents our Third Season of Sunday Lectures and Lunches for 2018/19 11.30 am Welcome drink on arrival 12 to 1.00 pm Lecture by guest speaker and Q&A session 1pm to 3.00 pm Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee Only £22.50 per person. Non-members and their friends welcome December 2: Dr Wilf Assin, consultant psychiatrist on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: ‘Not all wounds are visible’. See our website for the full series programme and booking details. Onagim Join us on Friday evenings at 7.30pm for a shortened service, light refreshments and an interesting talk and discussion. All are very welcome, but if you are not a member or friend of our synagogue please let us know you are coming on info@bhps-online.org or 01273-737223. 9 November: To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of ‘Kristallnacht’. Dr David Jünger: ‘The crucial year 1938. Nazi German aggression, the Jewish refugee crisis and the failure of international diplomacy’. 24 What’s on: November 2018 IMpORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: their vehicle. JEwISH CEMETERY, MEADOwVIEw, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEwISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE 24 Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 2 4.16 pm Sat 3 5.23 pm Fri 9 4.04 pm Sat 10 5.13 pm Fri 16 3.54 pm Sat 17 5.05 pm Fri 23 3.47 pm Sat 24 4.58 pm Fri 30 3.41 pm Sat 1 Dec 4.54 pm EVENTS IN NOVEMBER Wednesday 7 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the December 2018 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk Thursday 8 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society - Final meeting of the year, the traditional Chanukah meeting at The Dyke Golf Club. Contact: Ashley Woolfe: ashley@sportscastnet.com Friday 9 BHPS Oneg with speaker Dr David Junger (Sussex University) – ‘Kristallnacht’. Shortened Service 7.30 pm, light refreshments 7.30 pm at Lansdowne Road, Hove. Contact info@bhps-online.org or 01273 737223 Sunday 11 AJEX Annual Remembrance Service at Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove, 4.30 pm Tuesday 13 Public meeting to discuss the setting up of a new Jewish school. Venue to be advised when you book via email: info@bhjewishschool.org Sunday 18 Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club Annual Card Afternoon 2.00 – 5.00 pm. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove Sunday 25 BHPS Art Exhibition and Sale 10.00 am – 5.00 pm. 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove Tuesday 27 Jewish Historical Society, Sussex Branch with speaker Michael Crook, Chairman Sussex Branch JHSE ‘The Brighton Jewish Community 1910-1920’. A special presentation to mark 100 years since the end of the Great War. Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas Hove 7.30 pm. Members free, Visitors £5.00. Contact: amcrook321@gmail.com Wednesday 28 Jewish Film Festival screening ‘Promise at Dawn’, Komedia Cinema, Brighton 8.30 pm Thursday 29 Jewish Film Festival screening ‘The Testament’, Komedia Cinema, Brighton 8.30 pm please note that our next issue will be December 2018. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 7th November 2018. issue 290 | novemBeR 2018 Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Chabad House 01273 321919 Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm - 9.00 pm at Chabad House. Tel or Text 07834 669181 Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune @ Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Chutzpah Choir yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Tel: Jacky 01273 688538 Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar will recommence in the Autumn term Free Happy Hour @ Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of Shabbat! Tel 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm on the 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Saturdays Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22, Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 -
Issue 289
October September 2018
1 September – OctOber 2018 • eLUL 5778 / cHeSHVAN 5779 • ISSUe 289 SUSSex SUSSex JewISH JewISH NewS NewS wHAt’S INSIde.... SHANAH tOVA / HAppY New YeAr | JewISH HIStOrIcAL SOcIetY prOGrAmme | recIpeS | wHAt’S ON | ANd mOre Whats 2 Community Spotlight Ralli Hall by Roger Abrahams 3 Another year has gone past and the High Holy Days will soon since been told is almost identical to the two range cookers in be upon us once again. I wish Shana Tova to all my readers. the kitchens of the Mark Luck Hall. Currently, it is quite quiet at Ralli Hall, particularly as Dyson Also, while the Meat Kitchen is not in use during the High Gymnastics and The Italia Conte Drama School are both on Holy Days, our caretaker will take the opportunity of carrying their summer breaks. However, Hillbury House Nursery, now out an upgrade to this kitchen, including the fitting of new under the new ownership of the previous Manager, Lizzie, is stainless steel base units, wipe-down splashbacks and a in the middle of an upgrade and is now looking very smart good deal of painting – we already have a new commercial indeed. dishwasher, compliments of the Lunch & Social Club. It As part of our continuing upgrade programme, we are in the process of renewing our Wifi system, so that every room will have high-grade Wifi, as well as ceiling-fitted projectors and should all look very smart and will make it a lot nicer and easier to use for our regular Lunch Club, plus separate function users. wall screens, together with far improved sound systems, We are prepared to link the Milk Kitchen to the Vegetarian suitable for meetings and functions of all types. We will Kitchen for larger, supervised, Kosher Milk functions, subject also have a three month room let in the autumn to Brighton to the “pre-koshering” of the combined kitchen by the Academy, a local Drama School for sixteen plus (including potential users. The Meat Kitchen is advertised as being degree courses), comprising the use of all of the Lower “Unsupervised Kosher” while in regular use by the Jewish Ground Floor rooms (fitted around the current user times), Care chefs, but this kitchen is also available for supervised with the agreement including BA providing and fitting sprung functions, again subject to “pre-koshering” by the potential floors in the Youth Lounge and Abrahams Room, and full users. length mirrors in the Gym and Youth Lounge - all now fitted and to be retained by RH. We look forward to the continued, and increased, use of all our facilities by our Community, and please do not forget that As you may be aware, we have not been able to provide full the Great Hall alone is licensed for up to 200 people, and will cooking facilities in the Milk Kitchen for some time, owing to comfortably hold about 140 people sitting at round tables, the demise of the rather old cooker. We have now had the with the Magrill Lounge used for receptions and buffets, etc. opportunity of purchasing a rather “swish” dual fuel range cooker, 90cm wide and with a full width oven, which I have I look forward to seeing you at Ralli Hall. Cover: Israeli Postage stamp dating to 2010 - one of a series issued to commemorate the festivals. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day the Jewish community across the region. SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 7 OCTOBER 2018 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org FEATURES 1 STAMPING ON THE FESTIVALS Israeli Festivals postage stamp 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT Roger Abrahams provides an update on life at Ralli Hall 12 TIME TO GO HOME Jeremy Collick on living his dreams 13 SARID Fausta Shelton shares her memories 12-13 ROSH HASHANAH RECIPES Dishes for the holidays 15 NEW YEAR GREETINGS Wishes from the community 24 SUSSEX JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL An update from the Rep Council REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 9 CULTURE History, books and film 22 WHAT’S ON – SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 18 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 19 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE 20 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 21 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your News Births A well-deserved Honour Mazel tov to Hugo and Vivian Bieber on the birth of their son, Godfrey Gould has been awarded a Certificate from the a grandson for John and Joey. Jewish Historical Society of England ‘for his unstinting and Special Birthdays - September distinguished service’. Also, he has been appointed Hon President of the Sussex Branch of the Society. Mazel tov to Frances Bloch, Sheila Hart, Beryl Miller, Adele Percival, Michael Rich, Alisa Schulster, Collette Seltzer and all Deaths who are celebrating special birthdays during September. We wish Long Life to: Special Birthdays - October • Ian Ashleigh on the death of his mother, Bette Beryl Ashleigh z’l Mazel tov to Noam Buchalter, Bernard Harris, Sivan Sasson, • Ross and Katy on the death of their mother Linda Boyask z’l Sylvia Simon, Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo and all who are celebrating special birthdays during October. • the family of Shirley Field z’l • the family of Jill Richards z’l Bar Mitzvah Mazel tov to Ryan Walker who is celebrating his Barmitzvah on 13 October at Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue. Stonesettings The following memorial stones will be consecrated at the Jewish Cemetery, Meadowview, Brighton, in loving memory Wedding Anniversary Mazel tov to Jill and Paul Wiltshire on the occasion of their Coral Wedding Anniversary in October. for each of the following: • the memorial stone for Dr Tom Pastor will be consecrated on 16 September 2018 • the memorial stone for Rose Stein will be consecrated on Achievements Mazel tov to Ava Sharpe, granddaughter of Judy Irwyn, who achieved 3A* in her A-levels and has been accepted at 21 October 2018 at 2.30 pm • the memorial stone for Alan Tabor will be consecrated on 21 October at 3.00 pm Wadham College, Oxford to read Modern History. Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club Marilyn Fisher, one of our volunteers, celebrated her birthday on Friday 3 August (I am not giving away her age) and her best by Jacquie Tichauer friend of many years from London, surprised her and joined us I am writing this report a few hours after coming home from our 3-night stay in Eastbourne. We had an amazing time and, as usual, we say it cannot get better - but it does. The weather was super and the hotel gave us excellent service. Most of for the weekend. Marilyn was so happy when she saw her and it really made the weekend special for her. The sister of Sheila Hart (another volunteer) who helps at Jewish Care also joined us for the weekend. On 19 August we are having a brunch and meeting with our amazing volunteers, followed by a board meeting. On 22 August, we have been invited to Hyman Fine for their very tasty BBQ. We are very happy to welcome two new volunteers - Michael Marks on a Tuesday who helps us and entertains us with his lovely singing voice and he is happy when our members join in, which they enjoy very much. On a Thursday morning John Gold joins us and he has become a very valuable member of our team. On 27 September Margaret and Mark will be giving us a talk and showing us a film about their fantastic holiday in Israel this year (something not to miss). On the 18 November we are having our card afternoon, Bridge, Kalooki and Rummikub. Tickets are now on sale. Please call Alan on 01273 416335 or myself on 01273 739999 us enjoyed going shopping or on bus trips, listening to concerts at the bandstand, We send our condolences to the family of the late Francis Shepherd.. She will be sadly missed by all at the Lunch Club and we wish them Long Life. We are closed on the following high holidays: September 11 and 25 and October 2. socialising and On behalf of Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Committee we wish dancing the night you a Good Yom Tov and a healthy, happy and prosperous away. new year. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 4 5 issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 6 Sussex and the City 7 Hyman Fine House – The Great Outdoors! by Natasha Carson With the blessing of beautiful weather this year we have been making the most of our gardens at Hyman Fine. It is well documented that getting out into the air has tremendous benefits to health and wellbeing, helping older people feel, look and be generally more well, with a positive outlook on life. So, this year we have been able to put together an outdoor programme of activities in our lovely courtyard garden including our regular Jewish Chronicle discussion group, ably led by volunteer Bev, Star Music – when we sit and play instruments with professional musicians, Bingo with volunteer Shirley, Cookery Club, Keep Fit sessions, Art Group, Barbeques, Lunches, Afternoon Teas and so much more. Yes – the garden has been a busy, busy, place with relatives, friends, staff and volunteers all making the most of the rare pleasures of the English summer. Heritage Open Days issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 On a different note, Rabbi Samuel visited us recently (Yes – in the garden!) and we made plans to hold occasional Afternoon Prayers with him in the Synagogue here. This will happen after the Yomtavim when the nights have drawn in and we are looking for volunteers to make a Minyan with us. This will be on a weekday and refreshments will be provided. This year our Mitzvah Day fun will be helped along by P.J. Library, who are planning to come and invite many families, with a performance of The Mitzvah Magician. It’s always lovely to have children around – it makes us feel a little bit younger. If you would like to learn more about the home or are considering volunteering, please contact Natasha or Mark on 01273 688226. Middle Street Synagogue by Martin Gilmour On Sunday 16 September, from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm, Middle Street Heritage Shul will be participating in the UK’s European Open Days of Jewish Culture and Heritage with a talk at 3.00 pm. The Open Day is being organised by a cross-community team as part of activities taking place throughout the UK and 30 other countries and the Synagogue will be open to all. Entrance is free but any donation will be welcomed and will benefit the Synagogue’s Restoration Fund. Middle Street Shul was dedicated in1875 and was the third Synagogue in Brighton. The first shul in about 1800, was in Jew Street and the second in Devonshire Place, Kemp Town. The first recorded Jewish presence in our location was Samuel of Norwich 1267 and Jacob Harris, who was hanged in Ditchling in 1734. Israel Samuel and family resided in 22 East Street, Brighton in 1767. I am sure there were many more persons of the Jewish persuasion in the area from the 18th Century or even before. Middle Street Shul is a jewel in our community’s crown and is considered very highly, not only in our community but also by the Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission and the City Council. This year is particularly important as it will commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War and in Middle Street Synagogue we recognise the contribution our Brighton and Hove Community made by visiting the War Memorial in the Synagogue entrance. The Shul will be open to the general public and we look forward to your visit. Florence Place Burial Ground (photo by Michael Coppins) Please also note that on Sunday 16 September - National Heritage Open Day - there will be free conducted tours of Florence Place Cemetery at 10.30 am and 11.00 am. Numbers are limited and therefore pre-booking is essential through Heritage Open Days Office (Kevin Wilsher 07773 974584)”. Directions:- The cemetery is on a small side road, off Ditchling Road, opposite Downs Junior School, next to the Jolly Brewer pub. Please note that the ground is uneven. 6 Sussex and the City 7 Eastbourne Celebrates the Life of Menashe by Stephanie and Brian Megitt Readers may recall that in our March 2018 issue we posted an obituary to the late Menashe Cohen Harounoff z’l, who lived a long and colourful life. Menashe, Life President of Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation, passed away at the end of January and was buried in Israel. On 29 July a memorial service was held in his honour at Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation. Members of the congregation, friends and his family from London, Israel and elsewhere, were present, as was Stephen Lloyd, the Liberal MP for Eastbourne, who knew Menashe well. There was also strong representation by the Christian Friends of Israel. The Rev Malcolm Weisman OBE and Mr David Braunstein each took a part of the Minchah service and Mr Frank Miller gave the address after the service. In his speech Mr Miller read out a warm tribute from Ronnie Taylor, Chairman, and alluded to Menashe’s ability to speak several languages. These included a smattering of Hungarian, learned when helping Jewish Hungarian refugees disembark from ships that had run the British blockade and had been grounded on the beaches of the British Mandate territory. Mention was also made of Menashe’s accounts of his friendships with men in high places in Israel, many of which dated back to pre-1948 Haganah activities and the Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 1948 War of Independence. One of these was Moshe Dayan. The service ended fittingly with a rousing chorus of Hatikvah, followed by a superb afternoon tea, at which Stephen Lloyd MP addressed those present. He recalled that his partner’s father had been a member of the congregation and a friend of Menashe, which was how he came to meet him. Over meals they would discuss politics and Menashe would tell the stories of his involvement in the creation of the State of Israel. One constant theme was that of Menashe persuading him to become involved in matters relating to Christian Friends of Israel. Menashe’s granddaughter, Miriam, gave a short address, speaking warmly about her beloved grandfather and then thanking everyone for their attendance and for arranging the event. August was our busiest month with three matches against other societies and clubs, one tournament and our August society meeting. Our away matches against Coombe Hill Golf Club in Surrey and Dyrham Park Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire were keenly fought as usual and we performed well again playing for the Tri-Nations trophy. This is our annual match held at a course in Berkshire against Jewish golf societies from South Wales and Bournemouth. We sent a team of six to play in the Association’s Seniors Golf Tournament held at Moor Allerton Golf Club in Leeds, a predominately Jewish club. This is an annual tournament contested by sixteen Jewish golf clubs and golf societies but in spite of some very creditable scores, we did not win any trophies this time. Our meeting at the links course at Littlehampton, the only golf course in Sussex that replicates the testing conditions of the Open Championship, was very well attended and enjoyed by everyone. September will be a less busy month for us with the number of golfing days restricted by the Yom Tovim. However, we are looking forward to our meeting at Kingswood Golf Club in Surrey on 4 September. It’s a course which has hosted many professional tournaments and it will be a good test of our golfing skills. We expect another large turnout from our members. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com 8 Sussex and the City 9 Sussex Jewish Outreach Group - successful garden party in West Sussex One of the most important social events in our calendar took place in early August when we staged our annual Garden Party at the home of Ian and Barbara Gordon. Situated in the picturesque village of East Preston, the garden was in immaculate order and the weather just about perfect. To add to the hospitality, there was shade from the sun so that none of the guests needed to court danger by staying exposed too long. Ian and Barbara worked tirelessly with Annette to ensure that the sandwiches were made, cakes cut up, and the two kettles were standing ready to deliver constant hot water to replenish the teas and coffees. Everyone had a splendid time and the party only broke up at 6.00 pm, very few people having left before. Helping Hands by Jason Lever What have been some of the milestones During the spring, we made an appeal in Sussex Jewish of Helping Hands since last year’s High News to ‘upgrade your connection’ – as a donor or Holydays? volunteer – to become ‘well-connected’ to the community. That is, of course, as well as the regular Sunday afternoon teas in the AJEX This could mean making whatever extra or new contribution that is within your means and time. Hall and the week in, week out regular Connectivity across our community was behind a volunteers’ support to our clients, wonderful Friday Night Supper at Ralli Hall on 29 June. whether through help with shopping or home issues, The idea was to allow guests, who typically would be on travel to hospital appointments, and all sorts of other their own on a Friday night, to get together for a traditional personalised assistance. Shabbat meal with friends and hopefully make new Hard on the heels of the Yomim Noraim 2017/5778 – when we respond to the Kol Nidre appeal in our synagogues to financially support our own and wider causes – came Mitzvah Day on 19 November 2017, when we were asked to give our time instead of money. Some of our Helping Hands volunteers invited clients to their own homes for friends. We had over 60 guests taking part, which began with candle lighting and ended with Birkat Hamazon. This was only made possible through the efforts of Helping Hands, the Lunch & Social Club and the Community Renewal Fund’s support, which of course comes through your Shul contributions. Please keep making them! tea and a chat, and we followed this up with a Mitzvah As we are entering Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we Day project themed on L’Dor Vador (from Generation to ask you again to consider becoming well-connected in Generation). Post bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah young supporting Helping Hands. This can also mean passing on people joined with our guests at the Helping Hands the message of the benefits of being a volunteer. This is Chanukah Tea on 17th December. the right time to thank again those of you who are already In January, we held a really successful Helping Hands generous with your time, support and donations. volunteer support day at Ralli Hall, run in partnership with So, as we start 5779, one key message coming through Jewish Care. The theme of the day was STOP IT – Stop from our year is that we are greater than the sum of our Isolation Together. The forty or so volunteers were first parts, when we share our support and time, and do so in reminded of the problems of loneliness and isolation by partnerships across the community. But of course, it all watching a short film, made by Impetus, Brighton, about starts with the individual and as one of our volunteers has the value of befriending. Expert-run sessions then gave said, “the Helping Hands team has built up an amazing valuable insights and opportunities for discussion about network of volunteers since the start and the organisation what it’s like to live with dementia and, more positively, is one that the town can only be proud of”. Please help us how befriending can transform the lives of isolated older ensure that this continues... people. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 01273 747722 8 Culture 9 Are you interested in Jewish History? by Michael Crook The Sussex branch of the Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) is pleased to announce its programme of talks from October 2018 to April 2019. Details are as follows: • On 23 October 2018 Jennifer Craig-Norton, a British Academy Post-doctoral Fellow of the Department of History at the University of Southampton will talk about Jewish Refugees from Fascism in Sussex 1933-1945 • On 27 November 2018 Michael Crook, the Chairman of the Jewish Historical Society of England, Sussex Branch will talk about The Brighton Jewish Community 1910-1920. This will be a special presentation to mark 100 years since the end of the Great War. • On 29 January 2019 Imogen Choi, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford, will speak about Medieval Sephardi Literature. • On 26 February 2019 Dr Carlotta Ferrara degli Uberti, Lecturer in Italian Studies at University College London, will present on Patriots and Jews: Navigating the challenge of equality and integration in Liberal Italy. • On 26 March 2019 Michael Jolles, a member of the Jewish Historical Society of England Council, will be speaking about the Jews of Hastings & St Leonards. • On 30 April 2019 Lyn Julius of the London School of Jewish Studies will present on How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilisation in the Arab World Vanished Overnight. We hope that the varied and interesting subjects will have wide appeal. There is a strong local theme this session, with three speakers covering aspects of Jewish life in Sussex, but we will also be covering topics as diverse as Medieval Sephardi Literature, the dilemmas of Jews in Italy, and the fascinating and tragic story of the Jews of Arab lands. We are particularly pleased to welcome Lyn Julius, whose recently published book on this subject has received wide critical acclaim. Please join us at Ralli Hall on the Tuesdays shown below, meetings begin at 7.45 pm sharp, and we aim to end with light refreshments about 9.00 pm. Meetings are free to JHSE members and students, but we make a charge of £5.00 for non-members. For further information, please contact me on 01273 776539, or at amcrook321@gmail.com The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman Book review by Gillian Rich issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time. It is the story of Rachel Monsanto Pomie Petit Pizzarro, a Jewish woman born in 1795 on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. Her father was a merchant, who fled from a revolution in Saint Domingue in 1790. They were Danish citizens, although their families were originally from Spain, Portugal and France. Due to a business arrangement in 1818, Rachel is married to a widower, Isaac Petit, a French Jew of Marrano background. He is much older than her and has three surviving children. They have three more children before Isaac dies suddenly. A son is born after his father’s death. Rachel, as a woman, has no inheritance rights to property or business. Isaac’s French family send his nephew, Frederic, from Paris to run the business. He is eight years younger than Rachel, but it is ‘love at first sight’. The local Jewish community strongly disapprove and the synagogue refuses to marry them. Despite the scandal and ill feeling, they do eventually marry, having four children. One of these is Jacob Abraham Camille Pizzarro, later known as the Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro. Alice Hoffman uses these facts and weaves a magical story of life on St. Thomas and in 19th Century Paris, producing a thoroughly readable novel. She explores gender, race, class and religion through several outcasts. The book is full of the perfumes and colours of the Caribbean. The reader feels the atmosphere within and outside the Jewish community. The family’s servants play a large part in the development of Rachel’s life. In addition, there is the story of slavery and the unrest in nearby North America. There is so much social history covered here, but none of it feels forced. The author has written thirty works of fiction, including young adult novels. I will definitely read more of her work after finishing this beautifully written book. 10 11 Tony Bloom was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Sciences from the University of Brighton on 3 August 2018 for his impact on the city and major contribution to business in the city of Brighton and Hove. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 Photo: Tony Bloom with Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton Culture Woman in Gold On Sunday 14th October, we present Woman in Gold. This 2015 film, is a real-life story starring Helen Mirren, who plays the part of Maria Altmann. Altmann is an elderly Jewish woman who fled Vienna, some sixty years earlier. She attempts to reclaim some family possessions that were seized by the Nazis, including some very famous paintings, including ‘The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer’. After enlisting the help of young lawyer Randy Schoenberg, played by Ryan Reynolds, a lengthy court battle ensues to recover the paintings, and other treasures. This does not prove to be easy, as the drama in the courtroom unfolds. The Austrian establishment considers that the paintings are national treasures. Eventually they take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The film starts at 7.30pm and doors open from 7.00pm and is free to Ralli Hall members & full-time students. Otherwise admission is £4.00. For more information contact David Bresh at breshdavid1@gmail.com 10 Features 11 Zeh Rak Da’ati - 2 by Godfrey R Gould Cris (not exactly his real name) lived alone (he never as families, Helping Hands provides personal assistance married) in a flat in a listed terrace house in central tailored to specific concerns, as well as their monthly Brighton. Working, he had held an executive position teas. And amongst the help provided at Ralli Hall are the in a renowned specialist retailer in Hove. But it was for bi-weekly lunches and social activities. Now, only once a his communal work in Brighton that he became very month, JACS meets in association with these lunches, a well-known and respected. Interested in politics, he was far cry from the days when 60 or 70 people used to meet elected a Councillor on Brighton Borough Council and in every week at AJEX Hall. The need is probably still there; time became leader of his party on the council, leader of the organisational help to ensure the system functions is the council and in due course Mayor of Brighton. When not. And there is yet so much more (just look through the he retired from his employment he decided not again to pages of this journal). stand for election to the council. But that did not stop his involvement in public affairs. He was the chairman of the governors of one school and the vice-chair of another, he was on committees and panels, many of which he chaired, and he was involved in sundry charities and other organisations. There was hardly a civic function or Reception in this City at which Cris would not be present. But note the thoughts of Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer on page 12 of the August issue “one reason why Yom HaDin remains a Yom Tov to be celebrated communally and amongst family (is) so that we do not sever our interpersonal contact on such an auspicious day”. Judaism is surely a religion essentially of the family and of the family table? Communal activity becomes especially But a few years ago, Cris did not turn up for his daily more personal on Shabbat and Yom Tovim. Candles breakfast at a cafe off London Road, not far from where may be lit on Erev Shabbat but there may be nobody he lived. And on that day he did not turn up for any of there (physically) to share their light. And when Kiddush the many activities at which he was scheduled to be. Nor is recited there is nobody there (again, physically) to on the next day, or the day after that. No doubt people share the Words or to respond ‘Omain’. But all is not wondered where he was but nobody did anything to find lost. Since Rabbi and Rebbitzin Rader have arrived at out. After a few days, one of his neighbours, not having New Church Road Shul they have invited many to their seen him for several days, knocked on his door. There Shabbat and Yom Tov table. And more recently that was no response. After several more attempts she looked same Shul has organised a communal Friday night meal through the keyhole to see Cris lying fully- dressed on once a month. And what a success it is! Individuals, the floor. The Police broke in and Cris was taken to the couples, families and groups of friends from all our local County Hospital. Having suffered a massive stroke Cris Congregations (and, none) participate. The demand is should have been dead, but he wasn’t and with the overwhelming. That the need is there is obvious, but the excellent treatment he received, began a process of physical capacity of Mark Luck Hall limits numbers. Truly recovery. It was hoped that he might return to his flat, welcome is the recently established Erev Shabbat meal but paralysed down one side of his body and partially (though before davening) at Ralli Hall. Throughout Anglo- paralysed down the other, he was transferred to a nursing Jewry the family table of the Sedarim has long been an home where he still resides. I regret to admit that I do not imperative, recognised here as elsewhere. Most of our visit my friend, Cris, nearly enough. local Shuls organise communal Sedarim on one day Of course, Cris is not unique. There are millions of us who live alone, many are lonely, and too often forgotten. And this is particularly true of Brighton and Hove and especially of our own Jewish community. When a partner dies, for some time those with whom the relict (a very or the other - there is, however, a remarkable variation of price and limitation! And, again at NCR, lunches are organised for all on Shevuoth and in the succah on Succoth. And there’s plenty more, but this is not a catalogue. Victorian term oft seen on gravestones of the period) But all these most worthy facilities do not entirely was friendly remain so, but as time passes couples compensate for the true family table. Rabbi Spitzer seem to associate so much more with couples and the referred specifically to Yom Kippur. After a day in Shul singleton seems to be almost an aberration. Even when fasting and praying, all slips quite away when the sole friendship persists we all get on, friends themselves die, congregant returns alone to his or her house or flat, and the time comes that even with the best of intent, closes the front door, and breaks the Fast in solitude. few can cope with looking after themselves, never mind Others may share this special moment, but..! considering the needs of others. However, here there is much done communally to help soften the blow. From the very first, over 180 years ago, there was established the Brighton Hebrew Philanthropic Society (now the Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board) to help all those who are in need, though mainly financial. But times and ideas change, and today there is a remarkable raft of It might surely come to you, too. We all get old, and just as we also become alone and indeed for some of the time, lonely. We are for most of the time so visible. But when we close our front doors then we seem, to those who moments before enthused so much about our presence, no longer to be even there. I wonder why? organisations to help the elderly, the infirm, the lonely Never mind: your time, too, may surely come. Unless? and the needy. To satisfy the needs of individuals as well issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 12 Features 13 Time to go home by Rabbi Dr Jeremy Collick The last four and a half years have not been easy ones for simchas and sitting with them and their families, is the me. Forced into early retirement by ill health, followed by 5 greatest privilege a man can have and was a vocation, a way months in hospital and the never-ending routine of thrice of life and a career I treasure every day. weekly dialysis, my days are still relatively busy but with rather different activities. The last 15 years at Edgware Masorti and my previous years at Brighton and the beginning of my career working with It has been interesting being on the ‘other side of the bed’ so Rabbi Michael Leigh, have given me a unique opportunity. to speak and to feel the loneliness and institutionalisation of being in hospital or at home. One of the frustrations has been being unable to travel much in general and particularly, not being able to fly to Israel. But, with the permission of my doctors, all that changed in June and we had a magnificent trip to our home in Ashkelon overlooking the sea. There were numerous rocket attacks from Gaza and we sat on our balcony listening to the boom of Israeli artillery, but somehow it felt like home in a way that Edgware never has. All my life I have had 3 dreams – to help create a Bayit beyisrael, a Jewish home, filled with love, laughter and tears too. Cindy and I have had the privilege of many wonderful years together and seen our sons grow into fine young men So that dream came true. My second dream was to be a Rabbi. From early childhood that is what I wanted to do and to be. To study, teach, lead, inspire, comfort and celebrate with Jewish people. So that dream came true. My third dream was to live in Israel. As a teenager I volunteered to go to Israel at the time of the Yom Kippur war and have spent many months there since – studying, holidaying but never living full time as an Israeli Jew. Cindy and I were determined that when I retired this is what we would do and at the beginning of January that is what we are doing! Not that I am uncomfortable living here, far from it. But the racism and increasing anti-semitism since the ‘brexit’ vote has saddened and disappointed me. I will miss the people we love and our friends and Jacob, our younger son who is studying at Leeds University (Joel,our oldest has already made Aliya). But I will enjoy living a Jewish life in a Jewish country however frustrating that is! Making some small contribution to the life of the third Jewish commonwealth will be challenging but fulfilling as well, I hope. In spite of it ending early, I thoroughly enjoyed every (well, nearly every) minute of my 36 years as a community Rabbi. Being with people at the time of their greatest joys and Please God that dream will come true, too. May this New Year be a time when your dreams come true. Recipes for a Sweet Year The following recipes were taken from The Taste of Shabbos cookbook, a project by the Aish Hatorah Women’s Organisation and published by Feldheim, but is now out of print. Please note that all the recipes use standard cup, teaspoon and tablespoon measures. Streusel Coffee Cake 3/4 cup of sugar 1/1/3 cup oil 1 egg 1/2 cup orange juice (or any other juice) 1-1/2 cups plain flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup raisins (optional) Topping: 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp plain flour 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tbsp oil 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts Combine the sugar, oil and egg. Add the juice and beat thoroughly. Mix raisins with the dry ingredients. Add the flour/ raisin mixture and beat until smooth.Spread in a greased 9” square cake tin. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 Combine the ingredients for the topping with a fork and sprinkle over the batter. Press down slightly. Bake at 185o C (375o F) for 30 – 35 minutes. Old-Fashioned Honey Cake 2 eggs 1/4 cup honey 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp oil 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cocoa 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup nuts 2 cups sifted plain flour 1 cup strong coffee Combine eggs, honey, sugar and oil. Mix in dry ingredients alternating with liquid. Beat for 5 minutes. Pour into a 9” by 12” greased cake tin. Bake till done at 185o C (375o F). 12 Features 13 Eulogy to Sarid by Fausta Shelton I was assailed by a mixture of sadness and nostalgia when I recently heard that the AJR – acronym for Assocation of Jewish Refugees - has, wisely and understandably, decided on the dissolution of SARID, the Holocaust Survivors Group, that I had started in Hove in October 1998 and ran until September 2011, when I retired. The Hebrew word ‘sarid’ has several meanings, one of them being ‘remnants’. I had met an Israeli family in London whose parents had survived Auschwitz and had subsequently decided to acquire that noun as their surname, and I asked and obtained the approval of two local Rabbonim before proposing to my line manager to name the group so significantly. I was at the time social worker in Sussex for Jewish Care, where I found help to locate prospective members in the area. My heart swelled with great emotion when so many enthusiastically enrolled, not only from Brighton and Hove, but also from places like Arundel, Eastbourne, Horsham and further still. It was exciting, and daunting at the same time, to meet and interview the Survivors, originally from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia, as they all had a story to tell that reflected, not only their suffering, but also their dimension as extraordinary human beings, who had survived, both physically and emotionally, the unrelenting persecution of the Nazi regime, the extermination camps and the ghettos. The number of people registered eventually reached fifty, of whom twenty-three were AJR members, and it was soon agreed between Jewish Care and the AJR that the latter should take financial responsibility for the project, as they received a grant for that purpose. As a result, Myrna Glass issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 joined me at the helm and we had a core number of well over twenty members attending the monthly sessions at the Ralli Hall, where the atmosphere among us was just perfect for meeting old friends and making new ones. On such occasions, we always had speakers of distinction from different backgrounds and in 2002 we even had the great honour of being given a talk by Sir Nicholas Winton, then aged 93, who travelled from London by train to be with us on the day. In 1999, after talking to Judith Hassan, Director of Shalvata, a model Centre for Holocaust Survivors under the umbrella of Jewish Care in London, I asked and obtained that Dr. Andras Herskovits, an academic and himself an Auschwitz survivor, supported us to form a Creative Writing Group, similar to the one he was conducting there. In fact, such a group was successfully run by him in Hove until 2010, when his health deteriorated and prevented him from travelling. By then, the ‘Writers’ had grown in number and they were producing excellent work, which had increasingly acted as therapy, while at the same time reaching literary achievement of the highest quality. These are the memories that I treasure and I hope that all those who were once there shared the same feeling of belonging when they thought of SARID. Now, only a few are left and to them and their friends, who are no more, goes my deepest gratitude for answering my invitation twenty years ago and for allowing my empathy to be silently known to them. Editorial Note: The SARID Group continued to meet on Mondays at Ralli Hall until the Spring of this year – 2018. Sweet Potato Kugel 1 large sweet potato 1 potato 1 carrot 2 apples rind and juice of 1⁄2 lemon 1/3 cup matzah meal 1/3 cup oil 3/4 cup sugar (*) pinch of salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup raisins (optional) (*) Editor’s note: feel free to reduce quantity. Shred vegetables and apples. Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Spread in a greased casserole dish. Bake, covered, at 165o C (325o F) for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Wishing all our customers a Happy New Year 14 15 issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 14 THE FOR SUSSEX SUPPORTING OUR WARMEST NEW JEWISH YEAR US NEWS GREETINGS DURING EDITORIAL GREETINGS THE FOR PAST TEAM THE YEAR, 5779 NEW THANK YEAR AND 15 YOU SEND ALL ABBOUDI Juju and family wish everyone a happy New Year and well over the fast. ABRAHAMS Roger and Irit wish Shana Tova and good health to all of their family and friends. BARNARD / SEIDEL Rachel, David, Moses and Gabriel wish the community a Shana Tova. BARNETT Sandra wishes family, friends and the Community a happy, healthy and peaceful 5779 and well over the fast. BARSAM Claire and Sam wish Rabbi Samuel, our relatives and friends and all the Community a happy New Year. BLOOM Wendy and Ronnie wish all their children, grandchildren and many friends a happy New Year and well over the fast. BOOKER Beryl, John and Maurice wish family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. BURKE Shirley and Alan wish their family and friends a happy and healthy New Year and all best wishes for the future. CARLEBACH Myrna wishes a happy and successful year for the Brighton and Hove Community. Shana Tova. CARLTON Sandra and Derek wish all their family and friends good health and happiness for the coming year. CATERING CONNECTIONS Angela and Dann wish the entire community a happy and peaceful New Year. CENTRE FOR GERMAN JEWISH STUDIES שנה טובה ומבורכת May it be a year of peace, reflection, dialogue and enlightenment. Warm wishes to the Community. COLLICK Rabbi Jeremy and Cindy together with Joel and Jacob wish all our Sussex family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. COLLINS Jean wishes her family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 CONN Anne sends New Year greetings to all family and friends. CONWAY Susan, Jonathan, Simon and family wish family, friends and the whole Community a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. COWAN Janet wishes everyone a very healthy, happy and peaceful year ahead. CROOK Janet Ann and Michael and family wish all their relatives and friends Shana Tova, and a happy, healthy and peaceful 5779. CROWN/LYONS/ANDERSEN Shana Tova from Jeremy, Saonie, Elizabeth, Ghila, Rich and Annalise. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful 5779. CUDDIS Shan and David wish family and friends a very happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. DAVIS Angela and Joe wish all their family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. DELACOUR Robert and Marion wish all their family and friends Happy Rosh Hashanah greetings, L’Shana Tova. DOCTORS Philip and Anthony wish all friends and the Community a healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast. DUKE Norina and all the Dukes of Hove wish Shana Tova and well over the fast to all their wonderful friends and family. EVANS Evelyn wishes her family and all her friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. FAULL Dian wishes all family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. FAULL Maurice, Laura, Matthew and Emily wish family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. FELSENSTEIN Linda and Raymond wish their family and friends a healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast.. FERRIS Benita wishes her family and friends a peaceful and healthy New Year – Shana Tova. FISHER Marilyn wishes all her family and friends a happy New Year and well over the fast. FLASHMAN Roz and Michael wish their dear family and friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and well over the fast. FEUERSTEIN Jacqui and Raymond wish all their family, friends and the team of SJN a happy, healthy and successful 5779. GOODMAN/KORBY Debra, Micheal, Charlotte, Nicholas, Leora and Sam wish all their family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. GORDON Barbara and Ian send love and good wishes to their family in Shoreham and friends in Worthing for a happy and healthy New Year. GORDON Joan wishes her family and friends a happy New Year and well over the fast. GOULD Godfrey - may 5779 bring us all a year of peace, good health and every happiness. L’Shana Tova. GREEN Sheila and Ruth wish all the Community good health and happiness for the New Year and well over the fast. HARRIS Karen, Michael and Oliver wish all members of the Community a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. Shana Tova. HELPING HANDS wish our wonderful volunteers, clients, and the whole Community a good and sweet year. Shana Tova Umetukah. Thank you for all your support. IRWIN Judy wishes all her dear friends Shana Tova and good health for the coming year. ISAACS Barbara wishes Shana Tova to her children, grandchildren and all her many friends. 16 17 JAY Jean wishes her family and friends a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year. JOSMAN Cecil wishes all his friends and family and members of the Sussex Jewish Golfing Society, a happy and healthy New Year. Shalom Aleichem. KRAVETZ Sylvia and Arthur wish their dear family in New York and Israel together with their friends at Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation a sweet, healthy and happy New Year. LASKY Doreen and Malcolm and their family would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. LEVER Alan and family wish the Rabbonim, friends and the Community Shana Tova with health, prosperity, success and peace. LEVINE Sydney and Cecile send their warmest good wishes to their family and friends for a happy and peaceful New Year. LEVINSON Doris wishes the Rabbonim, her family, friends and colleagues in the Community a happy and healthy New Year. LIND Eleanor and Freddy wish the whole Community a healthy and happy year ahead. LUPER Renee wishes Shana Tova to all her family and friends. Best wishes to all the Community and all at SJN. MAGRILL Marilyn wishes Shana Tova to her dear mother, family and friends. MANN Lewis would like to wish all his family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. MASON Harry and Hazel wish their children, family and friends a very happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. MEDIPHARM LTD The Solomon family wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. MEGITT Stephanie and Brian wish all their friends in East Sussex a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 MELCHER David and Joan wish all family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. MILLER Pearl wishes all the city’s Rabbonim, their families and our wider Jewish Community a healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast. MITCHELL Rita and Ronnie wish their darling family and friends a happy and healthy New Year and well over the Fast. MORDECAI Louise and Steve wish their family and friends Shana Tova. May 5779 bring good health, happiness and peace to us all. MOSS Pat and Roland wish their family and many friends a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and well over the fast. NOAH, LEVEY June and Adrian wish their friends at Holland Road Synagogue a happy and healthy New Year. OBERMAN Rochelle, Gerald, Lheila and Zelig wish family, friends and all the community a very happy, peaceful and healthy New Year. PANTO Rosa and Stuart wish all their family and friends a healthy and happy New Year. PANTOOCK Rosalind wishes a healthy and peaceful New Year to her friends and relatives living locally. PHILLIPS Michael and Penelope wish the Jewish Community a good and sweet New Year. POSNER Liz wishes her family and friends a happy and healthy 5779 and well over the fast. RALLI HALL would like to wish its members Shana Tova. Thank you for many years loyalty and continuing to support your local community centre. RALLI HALL LUNCH & SOCIAL CLUB wish our amazing volunteers, members, supporters and the community a happy, healthy and peaceful year and an easy fast. RENTS Renee and family send good wishes for a very happy and healthy New Year. RICH Gillian and Michael wish family and friends a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. RICHARDS Jill and Ivor wish all family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. ROLAND Marianne and Bernard would like to wish family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. ROSE Jack and Elaine, Adam and Eva, Mariamne, Dan, Joseph and Max wish Shana Tova to all. ROSE Susan and David wish all our friends and family a very happy and healthy New Year. ROSENFELD Sue and Tony wish all their family and friends Shana Tova, a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. ROSENTHAL Jessica, together with Miriam, Dave, Esther and Jacob Rich and Sam, Ruth and Tessa, wish everyone a sweet and joyful 5779. RUBIN Brian and Sharon wish all their family and friends a Shana Tova and health and happiness and well over the fast. RUBIN Hazel and Joe send their best wishes to their family and friends for a happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. RUTHERFORD Sandra, Amanda and Fiona, together with Filipa and Julia wish their friends good health, happiness and success in the coming year. SCHAVERIEN David wishes Rabbonim, fellow congregants and friends a peaceful Shana Tova. SELIGMAN Melanie and Simon, together with Daniel, Liora, Rachel and Charlotte wish all family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. SHELTON Fausta wishes the whole Community Shana Tova and good health, happiness and peace, always. 16 17 SHARPE Beryl and Mef wish our dear children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, family and friends a happy, and prosperous New Year and an easy fast. SILVER Bernice and Arthur wish Jason, Jeffrey, Roman and all their friends a most happy, healthy and trouble- free Yom Tov and an easy fast. SILVER Bobbie, from her new home at Nightingale House, London, wishes her dear family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. SILVER Corinne Rachelle wishes health, happiness, love, laughter and a very sweet year to all her dear family and friends in the Brighton and Hove area. SIMMONS Eugenie sends New Year greetings to the entire Community. SIMONS Philip wishes L’Shanah Tovah to family, friends and volunteers, members and staff of Ralli Hall, and the Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club. SIMONS Ruth wishes Shana Tova to the whole Community. SOROKIN The Sorokin family send sincere Shana Tova wishes for health, joy and peace within our local community. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 STANFORD Jeffrey, Lydia, Simon and Lisa wish family, friends and the entire community a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year. SUGARMAN Lucy and family wish their dear family and friends a very healthy and happy New Year and well over the fast. SUSSEX BRANCH JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY Shana Tova. We look forward to welcoming you to our next set of lectures. Full details at https://jhse.org/branches/sussex/ SUSSEX JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL The President, Chair Team and Executive wish all the community a happy and successful New Year and well over the Fast. SWITHERN Lydia and Bernard wish their dear family and friends a happy and healthy New Year. TAYLOR Ronnie and Linda wish their dear family and friends and all the Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation a happy and healthy New Year. TORRANCE Tom and Cherry wish family and friends here and in Israel good health, peace and joy in 5779. Shana Tova Umetuka. WALKER Doreen and Bernie, Les, Steve, Oliver and Ryan wish their families (at home and abroad) and dear friends a healthy and joyous New Year. WALLACH Rabbi Charles and Marilyn wish their relatives and friends LeShana Tova Umetuka. THE WESSEX JEWISH NEWS TEAM wish everyone at SJN and the community a happy and healthy New Year. WEST SUSSEX JEWISH COMMUNITY wish Happy New Year 5779 to Jewish people and their families in West Sussex.Join us at our monthly events: 01273 728178 westsussexjc@gmail.com www.sussexjewishoutreach.com WILKS Sarah and David wish all the Community L’Shana Tova U’Metukah a good and sweet year and well over the fast. WINSTONE Everyone at Sarah’s Catering and Jewish Deli would like to wish family, friends and customers a very happy and healthy New Year and well over the fast. WOOLFE Laurel and Julian wish children, grandchildren, great- grandchild Millie, relatives and friends a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year. ZANARDO Rabbi Andrea, Sara, Dov, Yair and Hila wish everyone a year full of sweetness. Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. A further vacancy is expected to arise shortly for a flat that could be suitable for a couple. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points For further information concerning either of these flats or to request an application form please telephone 07716 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com 18 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 19 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 The (Complex) Jewish Calendar by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah Rosh Ha-Shanah is early this year – although not as early 5779 will be a 13-month year, known as shanah m’uberet, as it could be. The sacred season begins with S’lichot, a ‘pregnant year’ – hence, Rosh Ha-Shanah 5780 will be prayers of ‘Forgiveness’, on the night of Saturday/Sunday, late. It isn’t necessary to know the technical details of the 1st/2nd September. This is very early. According to the calendar in order to experience the flow of the Jewish year. Ashkenazi custom, to ensure that S’lichot are recited for The Jewish year simply goes from Rosh Ha-Shanah to at least four days prior to Rosh Ha-Shanah, if Rosh Ha- Rosh Ha-Shanah. Nevertheless, the importance of, both, Shanah falls on Monday or Tuesday – as it does this time the lunar and solar years to the Jewish calendar is critical round – S’lichot are held back a week. So, this year the to the experience of the flow of Jewish time. After all, Jews autumn festivals will be all over by 3rd October. live not only from festival to festival, but also from moon/ Next year, by contrast, Rosh Ha-Shanah will be at the end of September (Erev: 29th). What’s the reason for this disparity? The Jewish calendar is rather complex. It is complex because it reconciles the solar year and the lunar year – the latter being eleven days shorter. The Jewish calendar does this so that the festivals fall in the right month to moon/month. I mentioned that the biblical name for the month in which Pesach falls is Aviv. According to the Torah, Aviv, is the beginning of the Jewish year for months (Bo, Exodus 12:2). In other words, Aviv, which after the Babylonian exile acquired the Babylonian name, Nisan, is the first month of the year. season. For example, Pesach is a spring festival, which It makes sense to begin a year in the springtime. It makes according to the Torah takes place in the month of Aviv, even more sense that the Exodus from Egypt, which ‘spring’ (Bo, Exodus 12:1ff.). In the 4th century, Rabbi Hillel defined our existence as a people, should begin in the II established a fixed calendar, which standardised the spring. So, what do we make of the fact that the New length of months – 29 or 30 days – and followed a 19-year Year falls on 1st Tishri, the seventh month of the year? cycle, in which an additional month is added seven times Rosh Ha-Shanah means ‘the head of the year.’ Rosh Ha- – in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of Shanah is the highpoint of the Jewish year. Its significance the cycle. To ensure that Purim on 14th Adar and Pesach, is spiritual rather than material. On Rosh Ha-Shanah, we which begins on 15th Nisan, remain one month apart, this embark on a soul-searching journey that concludes at additional month became Adar 1, Adar Rishon, ‘first Adar’, the end of Yom Kippur. During that ten-day odyssey, we with Purim taking place in Adar 11, Adar Sheini, ‘second effectively step out of the natural world in order to examine Adar’. The 19-year cycle also includes adjustments to our deeds and repair our lives and our relationships. ensure that neither Yom Kippur nor Hoshanah Rabbah, the And then, the first thing we do afterwards is re-enter the seventh day of Sukkot, fall adjacent to Shabbat. To avoid seasonal cycle by building the sukkah. May we find the this problem, a day is added to the month of Cheshvan or spiritual nourishment we need for our journeys. L’shanah subtracted from the month of Kislev in the previous year. tovah! Events@BHPS High Holyday Tickets are available from the office. Email or ring for details. Students and members of progressive congregations are free but will need a ticket for security purposes. Sunday Lectures and Lunches 2018/19. 11.30 am Welcome drink 12 to 1.00 pm Lecture by guest speaker 1 to 3.00 pm Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee £22.50 per person, 10% discount if all 5 booked. Non-members and friends welcome. October 14: Ann Berger, director of development, promoting the life changing medical research funded by The Rose Tree Trust. December 2: Dr Wilf Assin, consultant psychiatrist on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. ‘Not all wounds are visible’. January 27: Sir Anthony Seldon, on his latest book. (Title still under wraps!) February 24: Aviva Dautch - ‘The remarkable Isaac Rosenberg’, First World War poet. March 31: Dr David Jacobson, Jewish historian - ‘Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem’. Sunday: Nov 25: Annual Art Exhibition. Original art and prints, jewellery, ceramics and pottery. Onagim - Friday evenings at 7.30 pm with a shortened service and light refreshments. All welcome, but if not a member or friend please contact the office. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 October 12: Dr Ben Kasstan: ‘The Charedim of Manchester - culture, faith and health’. November 9: Dr David Jünger: ‘Kristalnacht’. Are you Jewish or Jew-ish? 13th October, 10:30 - 15:45 An opportunity for those unaffiliated or disaffiliated to explore BHPS. 10:30 Tea and coffee, 11.00 Beit Midrash (House of Study) Shabbat morning service, 12:30 Kiddush and shared lunch. 13.00 What is Judaism? 14:30 sample Hebrew learning. Exploring Judaism with Rabbi Elli Shabbat, 2.15-3.45 pm, after the Access to Hebrew class (1-2pm) • Sept 1 Elul & S’lichot • Sept 8 Rosh Ha-Shanah • Sept 15 Yom Kippur • Sept 22 Sukkot • Sept 29 Simchat Torah • Oct 6 God Oct 3 What is Judaism? PLEASE NOTE: 1.00-2.30 (Access to Hebrew: 2.45-3.45) 18 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 19 BrightonReform issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 What should an apology look like? by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo This morning during breakfast my son Dov asked me out of the blue “So, Dad, what was Jeremy Corbyn up to yesterday?” Initially I was most impressed that my son had been following the news. Then, I realised we were on holiday and he must have picked up something from conversations between his parents! Yes, the current leader of the Labour Party is currently the topic of conversation in our family. We are no different from many other British Jewish families. We are furious, worried, disappointed and astonished, all these things together and maybe more, because of the inability displayed by the Labour leadership to handle the blatant antisemitism inside the Party. Added to this is the discovery of a rabid anti-Semitic City Councillor, of all places, in Bognor Regis, not so far from our lovely city. He tweeted the most horrendous of anti- Semitic canards, along with praises for Hitler... But, I hear someone saying, the heinous man from Bognor Regis is not a Labour Party member anymore. Also, Corbyn has apologised and promised he will personally take care of anti-Semitic members of his party. But we, as the clear majority of British Jews, and our representatives elected e.g. at the Board of Deputies, do not take these apologies seriously. Jeremy Corbyn has first denied the problem, then minimised it, then committed himself to root it out. This sounds like admitting that the Party has an antisemitism problem, but he did not admit it, he merely moved from denial to commitment to root it out. Part of the apologies are just a repetition of something written four months ago. He has also shown a lack of understanding of our culture: his article of apology was released while most Jews were busy with preparations for Shabbat, hence had no time to read a column published, of all places, in the Guardian. Worst of all, Jeremy Corbyn really does not understand why Israel is so important to us Jews, (actually, he barely mentions it at all), and wants to reserve the right to deface it and call for punishment for, well, everything bad that has happened in the region since 1948 and even before. Truly Jeremy Corbyn has shown us what a real apology must NOT look like! Perhaps we should thank him... In these coming weeks we Jews are busy with apologies. We engage in the process of teshuvah. During Yom Kippur we apologise to God and commit ourselves to do better, and while we prepare ourselves for the most holy day of the Jewish year, we apologise to our family and friends and do whatever we can to change relationships for the better. It is a universal commitment, because, as we say during the service over and over, all the community is responsible, and every single Jew has transgressed. No one is perfect. A true apology, which leads to a real teshuvah, must be sincere and not the repetition of a script, it must be empathic, and not blackmail, and it must include a commitment to do better. May we all find the strength to do so, over the next week, to our fellow human beings and to the Eternal One. Bulletin Board September Saturday 1 Rabbi’s Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Selichot Service, 6.30 pm Sunday 2 Wedding of Keren Shaw & yoni Nisner , 3.30 pm Thursday 6 Rosh Chodesh, 7.30 pm Saturday 8 Shabbat Service including a Baby blessing, 10.30 am Sunday 9 Erev Rosh Hashanah, 6.30 pm Monday 10 Rosh Hashanah, 10.00 am Tashlich, 5.00 pm 2nd night Rosh Hashanah, 6.30 pm Tuesday 11 2nd day Rosh Hashanah, 10.00 am Saturday 15 Book Club, 9.15 am Sunday 16 Mourners’ Kaddish at the Grounds, 11.00 am Tuesday 18 Kol Nidre, 7.00 pm Wednesday 19 yom Kippur, 10.30 am Sunday 23 Sukkah building, 3.00 pm Erev Sukkot Service, 6.30 pm Monday 24 Sukkot Service, 10.30 am Sunday 30 Erev Simchat Torah, 6.30 pm October Monday 1 Simchat Torah service, 10.30 am Saturday 6 Shabbaton & Shabbat Doroteinu, 10.30 am Sunday 7 Stonesetting of Riv Russell, 12.00 noon Community Tea, 2.30 pm Tuesday 9 ulpan (intermediate), 7.00 pm Rosh Chodesh, 7.30 pm Thursday 11 ulpan (beginners), 7.00 pm Friday 12 Shabbat Kolot, 6.30 pm Saturday 13 Rabbi’s Torah Breakfast, 9.00 am Bar Mitzvah of Ryan Walker, 10.30 am Sunday 14 Stonesetting of Sidney Norton, 2.30 pm Saturday 20 Bar Mitzvah of Luke Bodner, 10.30 am The diary is subject to change. 20 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 21 Rosh Hashanah – Resisting the Blame Game by Rabbi Hershel Rader Rosh Hashanah, observed on the first and second days of woman You gave me, she gave the fruit to me’. Is it his fault? the Jewish Year, is unique among the festivals of the Jewish Of course not! It’s the woman’s fault. It’s G-d’s fault for giving calendar. Unlike the other festivals, which mark a particular him the woman. But Adam himself? Absolutely not! And how event in Jewish history and the experience of our People, does Eve respond when presented with the same question? Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of a universal event; the The serpent gave me the fruit! She too plays the blame game. creation of the world and, more specifically, the creation of the first human beings. G-d doesn’t confront us personally with our wrongdoings, but He does give us a time of yearly focus, before and during Accordingly, Rosh Hashanah is the festival that emphasises the Days of Judgement, to confront ourselves. To look back the universal, rather than distinctly Jewish, aspect of our on the past year and take stock, both of our virtues and life mission. On Rosh Hashanah we proclaim G-d king of shortcomings. Most of all He asks us to be truthful with the universe and that ‘every object shall know that You ourselves and certainly not to ascribe our deficiencies to have made it, every creature shall understand that You others. The blame game is what we expect from children; the have created it, everything that has the breath of life in its ability to examine oneself honestly and objectively is a sign of nostrils shall proclaim G-d, the G-d of Israel, is king and his maturity. sovereignty rules over all.’ Yes, the observances are uniquely Jewish, but we pray for all of mankind and, importantly, the judgement of Rosh Hashanah is a universal one. At the conclusion of Yom Kippur we also sound the Shofar, but the mood is very different, it is a sound of triumph, expressing the confident hope that our prayers have been Foremost amongst the observances of Rosh Hashanah is accepted and G-d’s judgement has been a merciful one. the sounding of the Shofar; on a day which recalls creation we proclaim the Creator’s sovereignty, sounding the Shofar like a trumpet. Not only is Rosh Hashanah the anniversary of Mankind’s creation, it is also the anniversary of our first sin, Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge, accordingly the cry of the Shofar is also a call to repentance May our prayers this coming New Year be answered in a positive, good way and may the year that lies ahead be one of peace and prosperity for all Mankind. Perla and I wish the entire community a Shana Tova U’Metuka – A Good and Sweet Year. initiating the Ten Days of Repentance which culminate on Yom Kippur. The story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, one of the first Biblical narratives, offers a great and enduring insight into human nature. Firstly, here were two people who had only one restriction, one thing forbidden to them, and they were unable to adhere to it. They were allowed to eat any produce except the fruit of one tree and they could not control themselves. In the words of Oscar Wilde, they were able to ‘resist anything except temptation’. The Sages tell us ‘stolen waters are sweeter’; that which is not ours so often seems more desirable! Secondly, how did they react when confronted with their transgression? G-d says to Adam ‘did you eat of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?’ and Adam replies ‘the issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 Our Weekly Shiurim Three shiurim are held every week at 31 New Church Road, Hove. Wednesdays, 12.30 - 1.30 pm. Lunch and Learn for all. A light informal lunch followed by a shiur. £3 a head. Thursdays, 10.00 to 11 am. Ladies’ Shiur (no charge). Saturdays, half an hour before Minchah (times vary - please see weekly notices). The shiur is followed by Minchah, a Seudah Shilitit and Ma’ariv (no charge). Annual Summer Barbeque Our Annual Summer Barbeque will take place this year on Sunday 2 September in the Shul grounds from 12.30 pm. Great food and atmosphere. Adults - £17.50 Children - £7.50. Book your place by contacting the Shul office on 01273 888 855 or office@ bhhc-shul.org. Bookings must be made by Thursday 23 August. 20 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 21 Downward Dogs and Salutations by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer I am persistently requested to focus some attention on if we allow ourselves the benefit and the flexibility to the subject of Tefillah, commonly translated as ‘prayer’, overcome set stereotypes, if we transfer skill sets from one something that we tend to do in no short measure over discipline to another, I am convinced that we will begin to the High Holy Days. Intuition tells me that most of us have see and feel within ourselves a radically improved form of eaten our fair share diet of the subject and heard bog- synchronicity. I am not advocating asanas (yoga postures) standard lectures on our rites of prayer at some point in our in the middle of Musaph, although to quote the Babylonian lives, albeit seldom containing any detailed textual analysis. Talmud (Tractate Succot 53a): On prostration Rabbi Shimon Has it perhaps occurred to you that Jews in their place of worship have not always been confined to pews, shtenders, designer suits and dresses, enclosed stuffy ben Gamliel would “bow down and put two thumbs into the earth, suspend his body in the air, kiss the ground and straighten up!” spaces, minimalistic movement, English decorum, a myriad What I would advocate however is a stillness of spirit, focus of unintelligible words and stained glass. On the contrary, of heart, clarity of thought and all-round mindfulness that the origins of Israelite service were full of blood, guts and can be achieved during our designated fixed ritual within innards, splatterings and sprinklings mixed with penitential the Synagogue. It will probably require some preparation meditative states and ramblings, ranging from remorse to prior to entry to this Holy space or at least to desist from sheer ecstasy. If, as Maimonides so eloquently penned it, distraction on arrival. The Chassidim I dare say, within their “All existence depends on God and is derived from God”, diverse strands are probably the last living remnant of our then this is serious business and not for the faint of heart. ecstasy filled past with their exuberant swaying, hopping There are ancient systems that advocate movement and and chanting. After all, this is raw, in-your-face, God time. types of chant in order to induce internal conscious human Good luck to all of you brave souls who find the courage connectivity with our Source. The most obvious that comes to break out of ingrained stultifying moulds of automated to my mind is that of Yoga (I highly recommend it!). Yes...I ‘Service’, the likes of which have transformed some places know... there are always those who will immediately cry of worship into museums and far too many hearts so that ‘avodah zara’ (Idol worship), but it needn’t be so. Indeed, they no longer beat in rhythm with their emotions. It’s never to the informed and initiated, there are many paths to too late to dig deep... we have everything to pray for. kosher yoga and its benefits are immeasurable. Moreover, A heartfelt Ketiva Ve’Chatima Tova to you all. issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 22 What’s on: September 2018 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 23 COMMUNITY EVENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES REGULAR ACTIVITIES Please note that during the High Holiday period, events may be In Light candles Out Havdalah cancelled. Please check with event organisers. Fri 31 Aug 7.30 pm Fri 7 Sept 7.15 pm Sat 1 Sept Sat 11 8.37 pm 8.21 pm Mondays Shiur for the Actively Retired with Rabbi Efune 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm at Fri 14 6.59 pm Sat 15 8.04 pm 11 Hove Manor, Hove Street, Hove. Tel: 07885 538 681 Fri 21 6.43 pm Sat 22 7.48 pm Talmud for the Thinking Man with Rabbi Efune. 8.15 pm – 9.15 pm at Fri 28 6.28 pm Sat 29 7.32 pm Chabad House 01273 321919 Rubber and Duplicate Bridge 1.30 pm - 4.30 pm £4.00 + £1.00 NOTABLE DATES transport Ralli Hall. Tel: Reba 01444 484839 • Erev Rosh Hashanah – Sunday 9 September • Rosh Hashanah - Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 September Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Weekly Discovery and Discussion Group based on Jewish texts focusing on the personal meaning and relevance to our lives. 8.00 pm - 9.00 pm at Chabad House. Tel or Text 07834 669181 • Wednesday 12 Fast of Gedaliah – Wednesday 12 September • Erev Yom Kippur / Kol Nidre- Tuesday 18 September • Yom Kippur - Wednesday 19 September Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 • Erev Sukkot - Sunday 23 September Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 • Sukkot – 24, 25, 29 and 30 September • Hoshana Rabba – Sunday 30 September Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Mummy and ME Music with Penina Efune @ Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating environment with your baby/ EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER Tuesday 4 Sussex Jewish Golfing Society at Kingswood Golf Club toddler, some meaningful discussion, music and movement Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106 Summer break from 3 July – 9 October Chutzpah Choir yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 Wednesday 5 & Thursday 6 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com ‘Shackleton’s Carpenter’ a play by Gail Louw at the Rialto Theatre, or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Dyke Road, Brighton 7.30 pm Tickets £12/£10 Tel: 01273 725230 Israeli Dancing 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Ralli Hall Tel: Jacky 01273 688538 Sunday 16 National Heritage Open Day - Florence Place Cemetery conducted tours at 10.30 and 11.00 am. No charge. Limited numbers; pre-booking Wednesdays Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) essential through Heritage Open Days Office (Kevin Wilsher 07773 Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, 974584) Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 National Heritage Open Day - Middle St Shul 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm Thursdays Wednesday 26 - Saturday 29 ‘Plaza Suite’ a New York comedy by Neil Simon at the Barn Theatre, Southwick Street, Southwick, 7.45 pm. Tickets £11.00 01273 597094 or www.wicktheatre.co.uk Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the Ralli Hall Lunch &Social Club. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Voluntary Support Agencies Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk Fridays • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 guitar will recommence in the Autumn term Free Happy Hour @ Montessori Nursery 12 noon – 1.00 pm ALL • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org WELCOME. Come and celebrate, see, taste, hear and feel the joy of • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org Shabbat! Tel 01273 328675 Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm on the 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 725650 01273 737223 Saturdays • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22, Susans Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 • Jewish Community Centre at Ralli Hall. Various communal activities. 01273 202254 or rallihall@tiscali.co.uk Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 22 What’s on: October 2018 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 23 SHABBAT SHALOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 EVENTS IN OCTOBER Sunday 7 Helping Hands Community Tea at AJEX Centre, Eaton Road, Fri 5 Oct 6.12 pm Sat 6 7.16 pm Fri 12 5.57 pm Sat 13 7.02 pm Fri 19 5.42 pm Sat 20 6.48 pm Hove 2.30 – 4.30 pm. Donation £3.00. Transport can be arranged. Contact 01273 747722 Sussex Jewish News – Submission deadline for the November 2018 issue. Send your articles, thoughts, photos and Fri 26 5.28 pm Sat 27 6.35 pm announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@ sjn.org NOTABLE DATES Sunday 14 • Shemini Atzeret - Monday 1 October • Simchat Torah - Tuesday 2 October BHPS Lecture and Lunch 11.00 am – 3.00 pm, with guest speaker Ann Berger, Director of Development on Promoting the life-changing medical research funded by the Rose Tree Trust. 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove £22.50. Tel: 01273 737223 IMPORTANT INFORMATION Sussex Jewish Film Club presents ‘Woman in Gold’ at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.00 for 7.30 pm. Donation £4.00 For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE Tuesday 23 Jewish Historical Society of England with guest speaker Jennifer Craig-Norton ‘Jewish Refugees from Fascism in Sussex 1933- 1945’. 7.45 pm Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. Members The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. free, Visitors £5.00. Contact amcrook321@gmail.com Tuesday 23- Saturday 27 ‘Old Stock – a Refugee Love Story’ at The Old Market, Market Street, Brighton 7.30 pm. Booking: Tel: 01273 201001 Please note that our next issue will be November 2018. The deadline for your announcements, news, views, articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 7 October 2018. Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 24 24 Sussex Jewish Representative Council It would appear that all has been quiet this summer other Jewish organisations and can play a more since our very successful and well supported Yom contemporary role in the civic life of the city. Please do Ha’atzmaut Celebrations. But this is not the case. follow us @SussexJewishRep to see what we’re doing. Behind the scenes, the Council receives enquiries In addition, our community saw demonstrations by weekly on all different aspects of Jewish life in the pro-Palestinian groups trying to boycott the Seret Israeli community, many from outside organisations or Film Festival, organised by BNJC at the Komedia in individuals. We do our best to respond to all enquiries May. Part of the remit of the SJRC is to protect the directing them to the relevant body or organisation, or interests of the Jewish community. We supported the the Chair Team provides a response or the information efforts of the BNJC, SFI and CST to make sure the required, if we feel equipped to so do. Film Festival continued. This reached local and national However, the issue that has concerned us the most has been the ongoing problem of anti-Semitism not only in media and brought one of the VPs of the Board of Deputies down to Brighton, in support. the Labour party, but also on our doorstep. We were privileged to have been involved in the Henry Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing & Shoreham, recently held a discussion on the Israeli/ Palestine Conflict. Sadly, this was scheduled for a Friday night. When it was pointed out to him that this made it very difficult for many people from the Jewish community to attend, we were told that as no-one Solomon Memorial Ceremony together with BHHC and Sussex Police. In addition to the memorable commemoration it was wonderful to see the Florence Place cemetery restored for the occasion. We hope this can be maintained as it truly is a local Jewish site of historic interest. had raised it with him - although we did - he wouldn’t We are currently working on the redesign and update change the date. A few people did attend to represent of the SJRC website. The end result should be a user- the community and unfortunately the presentation friendly calendar for the communal diary, and a more was very one-sided with Mr Loughton at one point effective way to post and read about upcoming events, suggesting that ‘the rockets serve Israel’s purpose’. A and local news. particularly offensive sentiment. The requirement for us to send out important local We raised our concerns regarding the disgusting news on a regular basis is on the increase. We are views shared on Facebook by Bognor Regis Labour building our database and would love to be able to Councillor, Damien Enticott and contacted the Bognor include all of the community. If you don’t receive our Regis Town Council. He was subsequently suspended updates please do contact us and ask to go on the list. from the party and removed from the town council. (sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com) We have also been in discussions with Brighton & We would like to end our report this quarter by paying Hove City Council regarding the adoption of the full tribute to a dear colleague and friend Irvyn Isaacs, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) who passed away this summer. Irvyn was an active definition on anti-Semitism. We hope to have a fuller member of the SJRC, a Vice President and the first report on this in the next issue. Administrator of the Community Renewal Fund. He is In the last month, the SJRC has been quoted in the missed and not forgotten. Argus twice, has appeared on Latest TV discussing You can visit the Rep Council on their website at www. the IHRA definition and has been interviewed on BBC sussexjewisshrepresentativecouncil.org. They can be Radio Sussex about anti-Semitism. contacted by email at sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com We have also moved into the 21st century and are or followed on Twitter @SussexJewishRep now on Twitter. This means that the SJRC can respond immediately to issues of concern, can engage with issue 289 | sePTeMBeR – OCTOBeR 2018 -
Issue 288
August 2018
what’s InsIdE.... hEnRY sOlOMOn MEMORIal | ChutZPah In PaRIs | OsCaR wInnER | what’s On | and MORE august 2018 • aV / Elul 5778 • IssuE 288 2 Refugee stories & memories wanted by 3 The Old Market theatre in Brighton We want to hear your stories of love and help enrich inter-cultural and refuge - can you help? understanding. Here at The Old Market, we’re really We believe that the arts exist to start excited to have the amazing Old conversations and we want you to Stock: A Refugee Love Story coming help us start one around what it to our stage in October. The show is means to be a refugee. We’d love a darkly funny and deeply touching to hear your refugee stories - first klezmer-folk show that tells the or second hand - and allow us to true story of two Jewish Romanian display them in our venue, whilst refugees who are searching for a new Old Stock runs, so that audiences life in Canada in 1908. passing through can read them and We want to take the insights and themes, raised by the play, off the learn about the experiences of you and your family. stage and to start a conversation between the Jewish If this sounds like something you’d like to be involved community in Sussex and the wider community at in, then please don’t hesitate to contact us at large. Our goal is to use the stories and experiences marketing@theoldmarket.com, we can’t wait to hear collected to link the show to contemporary issues from you! Cover: The gravestone of Henry Solomon taken at the recent memorial Service. Photo by Michael Coppins. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Michael Rich, David Seidel TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. issue 288 | august 2018 ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by COMMuNAL DIARy sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating each edition. It has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. COVER IMAgE Michael Coppins PRODuCTION/LAyOuT Anand Day SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 AUGUST 2018 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org FEATURES 1 HENRy SOlOMON GRAvESTONE Photo by Michael Coppins 2 REFUGEE STORIES Help wanted by the Old Market Theatre 8 HENRy SOlOMON MEMORIAl A special man honoured 9 WRITING OUR OWN HISTORy One man’s view of where to pray REGUlARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITy Your news, views and stories from across the county 11 CUlTURE The Chutzpah Choir in Paris 16 WHAT’S ON – AUGUST Regular and special events in your community yOUR COMMUNITy 12 HOvE HEBREW CONGREGATION 13 BRIGHTON & HOvE PROGRESSIvE SyNAGOGUE 14 BRIGHTON & HOvE REFORM SyNAGOGUE 15 BRIGHTON & HOvE HEBREW CONGREGATION Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. issue 288 | august 2018 Important message HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY VISITS If you are in hospital or know anyone being admitted into hospital, please get in touch with info@ sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org or telephone 07789 491279 so that a Jewish chaplain can be contacted to visit. 4 Sussex and the City 5 your News Special Birthdays Get Well Mazel tov to Robert Driver, John Leonard, Kevin Morrison, Norman Pearl and Lesley Walker and all who have special birthdays this month. We wish refuah sheleimah to all who are unwell or in hospital at the present time. Wedding Deaths Mazel tov to Dr Sam Freeman We wish Long Life to the families of : (son of Sharon & Howard and Ian Elkin z’l grandson of Rosa & Stuart Panto) and Natasha Isaac. Sonia Isaacson z’l Bernie Katz z’l Frances Shepherd z’l Achievements Mazel tov to Chantal Conway on achieving the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Medal Award. Mazel tov to A-level student Joshua Firsht for being awarded Pupik Competition The lucky prize-winner for a free ticket to see the show at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing on 25 July is Marilyn Fisher. an Oscar for his film ‘All In’. your views Dear Editor I am trying to contact anyone who was involved with, or Dear Editors It is with profound regret that I must advise you that his late Majesty of Blessed and, indeed, Saintly Memory, King Edward the Confessor died in 1066, some 224 years before the lamented expulsion of the Jews from England. His Majesty was survived by his wife Edith, but had no children thus leading to many decades of bitter civil strife in this Realm. Yours sincerely Godfrey R Gould whose families were members of, the Grand Order Sons of Jacob. Particularly, those who were involved with the convalescent home at Wyberlye House, Burgess Hill, West Sussex. I was there when it was used to house 50 Jewish girls from Nazi-occupied Europe between January 1939 to July 1940. I would also like to contact anyone who was one of the children at the home. I can be contacted at lcurbach@aol.com Lesley Urbach Ralli Hall lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer I hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weather and managing to cope with the heat. On the 27 September, our lovely volunteer Margaret and her husband Mark are coming to give us a talk and to show us great slides of their visit to Israel this year. Make sure that you put the date in your calendar. I am still looking for someone to join us and get our choir started. Anyone who is willing, able and has a spare hour once a month, would be much welcomed, to lead our members who would really enjoy this activity. On the 29 June, Helping Hands organised a lovely Shabbat dinner at Ralli Hall and it was great working together with them and seeing so many of the lunch club members. It was a really super evening and everyone enjoyed themselves. Well done Helping Hands! Our weekend away in Eastbourne is coming up soon and in the next SJN I hope to be able to tell you all about it. We do intend to have film shows again. Watch this space and do let me have any suggestions for any particular film you would like to see. issue 288 | august 2018 Bernie Katz z’l by Daniel Laurence It’s with great sadness that I announce the passing of Bernard Katz, who died peacefully at his home in Hove on Friday morning, 6th July 2018, aged 87. Bernie, who was born and bred in Brighton, was a well-respected and much liked gentleman - a term that sums him up perfectly, as he was known for his exceptional good manners and politeness. Those that had the pleasure to spend time with him knew he was equally kind, generous and quick-witted. The diagnosis, over a year ago, that he had leukaemia, didn’t for a second deter him from proceeding with his extraordinarily busy social diary. Amongst other things he was an avid member of the Sussex Jewish Film Club and the most dedicated supporter of Sussex Friends of Israel, where I had the honour of becoming friends with him several years ago. Bernie is survived by his elder sister Sheila. May his memory be a blessing. 4 Sussex and the City 5 Evelyn’s Big Birthday Saga by Sidney Lipman It was all carefully arranged, with relatives coming from far and wide to celebrate Evelyn’s birthday at Hyman Fine House. As we all know, the residents are well cared for in more ways than one. However, the best laid plans etc. don’t always follow. The big day arrived, but two hours before the guests were due, Evelyn was not well and was taken to hospital for a check-up. As you would expect, there were frantic phone calls to family who were redirected to her bedside in the A&E ward. The medical news was encouraging, so we all set about singing Happy Birthday at her bedside! I am sure that the medics would rather hear sounds of joy than of pain. Her stay was short-lived and Hyman Fine soon arranged for her return. Wait folks! That is not the end of the saga. For on the very next day, the staff at Hyman Fine made sure that her birthday was not to go unnoticed and arranged a special lunch table for the two of us in the attractive dining room, complete with named balloons etc., where we still had eyes for each other! time was enjoyed by all, including Happy Birthday from a computer, to celebrate Evelyn’s 95th birthday. This gives me the opportunity to extend my thanks and admiration to Jewish Care and the dedicated professional staff, in particular at the Hyman Fine House, to whom Evelyn and I award Five Gold Stars plus a mention in despatches. More to follow, for later in the afternoon, Evelyn’s birthday cake was retrieved and the caring staff made sure that a good Ralli Hall - Message from the Chairman by Roger Abrahams The AGM has now been and gone and I am pleased to inform The current Board and Committee membership is unchanged, you that it went very well, with a larger number attending than for which I thank all concerned. These are as follows: we have had for several years. However, more importantly, we now have four new Committee Members, all of whom are bringing much-needed and younger blood. We had nominations from Nicola Hyman (who wishes mainly to be the representative of the Israeli Dance Group), Michelle Kay and Gary Weston, with a request for co-option by Lesley Walker (which has since been approved and confirmed by the Board). They are at or about a similar age to mine when I first joined what was then the Brighton & Hove Jewish Youth Council. It then changed to become the Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Foundation, once there were fewer young members and the senior citizens joined. There will be a warm welcome at our next Management Committee Meeting which I am very excited to say will be much larger. Hopefully, it will be able to expand the scope of our Community activities and Shabbat Chukat, June 23rd 2018 by Gerald Crest issue 288 | august 2018 Myself Hon. Chairman Alan Burke Hon. Vice Chairman Philip Simons Hon. Secretary Stephen Samuels Hon. Treasurer Marilyn Fisher Committee Member Marilyn Magrill Committee Member As it is now the middle of the summer (and very hot and humid), it is quite quiet at Ralli Hall, particularly with regard to the children’s activities on the Lower Ground Floor. This gives our caretaker, Jon Gaffikin, more time to carry out much- needed maintenance and decorating. However, it will not be long before the next round of High Holy Days will be upon us and I am sure that there will be an even greater use of our facilities during the autumn and winter months ahead. will bring new ideas and a greater dynamism. I look forward to seeing you at Ralli Hall. Together with Ivor and Gweni Sorokin, Sharon and I joined with the Collick family and the Edgware Masorti Congregation and enjoyed a special Kiddush in honour of Joel Collick making Aliyah and soon entering the IDF. Joel read Haftorah so very proficiently. He has led and assisted in leading the Services for some years and will be sorely missed but his regular return visits will be looked forward to and we will look forward to hearing about his new life. Rabbi Jeremy was on top form and strong of voice. In spite of his ill health he addressed us from the Bimah, something which he has been unable to do for close on five years. After shul, we were invited to join the Collick family for lunch and felt honoured to share this day with them. We wish Joel all good things in his life in Eretz Israel. 6 Sussex and the City 7 Friday Night Supper by Karen Pettitt Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons issue 288 | august 2018 On the evening of 29 June, Helping Hands, together with the Lunch & Social Club, held a very successful Friday Night Supper at Ralli Hall. The idea was to allow guests, who would usually be on their own on a Friday night, to get together for a traditional Shabbat meal with friends and hopefully make new friends. Over 60 guests attended and the evening commenced at 5.30 pm with Candle lighting, Kiddush and Ha Motzi. A meal of egg & onion/chopped liver, roast chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables, followed by apple sponge, fruit salad with parve cream, was provided by the chefs from Hyman Fine House. Our thanks to Yacine & Patrick, who worked very hard, in an extremely hot kitchen. Everyone enjoyed the food, and some even had seconds! The evening concluded at 7.30 pm with Birkat Ha Mazon in good time for our guests and volunteers to be home before Shabbat came in. The feedback received so far: • Congratulations Team HH. Speaking as a client, the supper was a great success. Transport both ways. Wonderful atmosphere, very friendly servers, the tables looked great, very welcoming, excellent food. Well done ladies and gentlemen, and chef. • What a great evening, excellent food, good company, what more could we ask for? • Many thanks for a lovely erev shabbas meal, good food, good atmosphere and plenty of hard working helpers and wonderful value. A big thank you to all our volunteers and to Jacquie from the Lunch & Social Club for her support, to Ralli Hall for the use of the facilities and to the Community Renewal Fund for their support. We look forward to seeing everyone once again at our next Tea on Sunday, 12th August at 2.30 pm at the Ajex Hall. A word from one of our volunteers: Having been a ‘phoner-upper,’ (phone volunteer), for Helping Hands for some years, I have recently been helping as a table host at the bi-monthly Sunday afternoon teas as well. This has been a really enjoyable experience and I have finally got to meet some of the ladies and gentlemen with whom I have been speaking on the phone for some time. It has been fascinating listening to the stories of the past from tales of New York and wartime experiences in London, to name but a few. Also, observing all the people helping in one way or another at the teas, it really hit home how wonderful this organisation has become. I have lived in Hove all my life and I am now seeing many people whom I have known, from all different parts of my life, helping with the teas: drivers and sandwich- makers, some of whom were at the same school as me; tea hosts who have been helping on committees for as long as I can remember; others whom I knew socially nearly 50 years ago; and family members driving the Helping Hands bus. All this, plus other new volunteers I am meeting for the first time through Helping Hands. Truly, Sarah and Liz and the Helping Hands team have built up an amazing network of volunteers since the start and the organisation is one that the town can be very proud of. Our July meeting at The Dyke Golf Club was our President’s Day presided over by our President, Michael Marks. We had one of our largest attendances for many years and played for one of our major cups, the Maurice Sugarman Trophy. We were delighted that Lucy Sugarman joined us for the evening meal and presented the trophy to the winning team. Other highlights of the month were our teams’ performances at the Glancy Tournament at Abridge Golf and Country Club in Essex and at the Southern Provincial Tournament at Hartsbourne Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire, where our teams performed admirably well in stressful and testing conditions against teams representing Jewish golf clubs and societies from England, Scotland and Ireland. August will be almost as busy for us with away matches against Coombe Hill Golf Club in Surrey and Dyrham Park Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire. We will also be sending a team to Moor Allerton Golf Club in Leeds for the Seniors’ Tournament and we will be hoping to repeat our success as winners of the Tri-Nations trophy on 22 August. This is an annual match held at a course in Berkshire against Jewish golf societies from South Wales and Bournemouth. Our Society meeting on 14 August will be at the links course at Littlehampton. This is the only golf course in Sussex that replicates the testing conditions of the Open Championship and is very popular with our members. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not so young. For more information please contact our Hon Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com 01273 747722 6 Sussex and the City 7 Israeli Dancing outreach event by Jackie Fuller Last month the Israeli Dance group at Ralli Hall received an unusual request. It came from a school in Sayers Common called LVS Hassocks - a special school for children on the autism spectrum that has both boarders and day pupils. They were planning an ‘extra curriculum’ day with the theme of different cultures and traditions and they wondered whether we could run some Israeli dance workshops for them. We decided to rise to the challenge and four of us duly turned up on the appointed day to run three afternoon workshops. We had never done anything like this before and realised it would be quite demanding, as even adults without any learning difficulties, usually need to come a couple of times before they start getting the hang of it. We realised that the steps would have to be simplified for the children and the main thing was that they should enjoy moving to the lovely Israeli music and have a good time. The photo shows the four of us with some of the children. In the event they all seemed to enjoy themselves and particularly liked running into the centre of the circle with a one, two, three, kick and then out again. It was a hot afternoon, so much cold water was consumed after each dance. We were very impressed with the school, which has excellent facilities and a dedicated and caring team of teachers and carers doing a difficult job. The children certainly eat very well there too - we were grateful to be given a lovely lunch before the workshops began. A Firsht Award by Yael Breuer issue 288 | august 2018 We think it’s important to take Jewish culture out to the wider community in different ways, and this was certainly a rather unusual way. We’re very pleased to have done it. By the way, unlike most clubs and groups, the Israeli Dance group at Ralli Hall continues throughout the summer, even though numbers might be down a bit with some members away on holiday. We’d be pleased to welcome anyone interested to give it a try for a couple of free taster sessions. It’s fun and a great way of keeping fit. We meet Tuesday evenings 7.30 – 9.30 pm, but people can dip in and out during that time if they wish - it’s all very relaxed. If you might think of having a go, contact our member, Nicola Hyman, to say when you’d like to come along (nicolajhyman@talktalk.net). We’d be very pleased to see you and you can be assured of a friendly welcome. Brighton A Level student Joshua Firsht has been awarded an ‘Oscar’ for the Best Film category on behalf of the Film Studies department at the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College. The short film, which tells the story of a boy who loses money through online poker and who plans to rob a passer-by in order to earn it back, was also screened at a special event at the Duke of York’s cinema. Proud Joshua said afterwards, “I was very pleased to hear that it was initially one of three films to be nominated for the Best Film award and was then lucky enough to win the award alongside my co-director. This is a very personal achievement for me as I aspire to become a film director in the future, with this award giving me the confidence to go out and keep on shooting”. The film ‘All In’ can be watched on YouTube channel: joshuafirsht MARTIN GROSS Funeral Director and Funeral Consultant to Jewish communities 01273 439792 07801 599771 8 Features 9 Henry Solomon Memorial Ceremony by Yael Breuer Nearly two hundred years after he was murdered, Brighton Chief Constable Henry Solomon’s memorial took place at the old Jewish Cemetery in Florence Place in Brighton, where he was buried. Representatives from Brighton & Hove Jewish community and Sussex police, including Chief Constable Giles York, attended the commemoration, organised by Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, Sussex Jewish Representative Council and Sussex Police. The ceremony included a brief history of Henry Solomon by former Chairman of the Sussex Branch of the Jewish Historical Society, Godfrey Gould, who told the gathering how Mr Solomon was bludgeoned with a poker by a thief while he was interviewing him in his office, in March 1844. A memorial prayer was recited by Rabbi Herschel Rader who also read the memorial stone’s Hebrew inscription. Brighton Chief Constable Giles York said of his “revered” predecessor, “Henry Solomon was a generous and compassionate police officer, true to his faith and true to his office. He had 32 men working for him and I have 5,000 men and women working across Sussex and I do not have a poker in my office ... but I hope that there are elements of the work we do today that are in the same spirit of the work that was done in Henry Solomon’s days ... Sussex Police are marking their 50th year and it is important that we remember our history. It is also important that we listen to our communities and engage with them.” Fiona Sharpe, who co-organised the community aspect of the event with Tom Marvan-Toone, Sussex Police Prevent Officer, said, “This was a particularly significant event, honouring both an individual, Chief Constable Henry Solomon, who was murdered in the line of duty, but also highlighting the role that the Jewish community has played in civic life in Brighton for more than 200 years. To have the current Chief Constable of Sussex, Giles York, recognise the contribution that Henry Solomon made to the city and acknowledge the ongoing positive relationship between the police and the Jewish Community, is a great honour”. issue 288 | august 2018 Officer Marvan- Toone added, “It was important to highlight the life of Henry Solomon, whom I felt was a little forgotten and to pay tribute to the man who was pioneering in many ways. Having a Chief Constable paying tribute to a former Chief Constable is an apt tribute to a brave man who was killed in office.” Jonathan Conway, the prime organizer of the event, gave the vote of thanks. He is on the BHHC Board and responsible for the Orthodox Jewish cemeteries. He arranged for the very overgrown site to be cleared and for the headstone and grave to be renovated within three weeks – a remarkably short time for this work to be undertaken. Rabbi Rader referred to Jonathan’s outstanding work in his speech. After the event, Godfrey Gould said, “Henry Solomon represents all that is good in the Jewish community in Brighton & Hove and in the UK generally. He was an integral part of the local Jewish Community, an Elder, a Trustee and the Vice-President. But he was a man who, literally, gave his life to the Community in general, with several public appointments culminating in that of Brighton’s first sole Chief Constable. Without doubt he has been the only Jew ever to have held such a position. This event confirms, again, the special part that the local Jewish community continues to play in the life of this City.” 8 Features 9 Writing Our Own History by David Shinegold Since moving to Sussex five years ago with my partner Road, I have seen the numbers of congregants attending Sue, I have found the Jewish community in Brighton during the past year increase and remain consistently at a and Hove to be extremely friendly and outgoing. People sustainable level. However, Friday evening services have here have made us feel so welcome and in turn, we have struggled to attract a minyan. This is a difficulty which involved ourselves in some of the wide-ranging activities – could feasibly be addressed by a suitable arrangement religious and non-religious – that the community offers. between BHHC and HHC, given that joint minyanim Particularly impressive in Brighton and Hove is the large number of cross-communal organisations that provide for members of all four shuls here. There are welfare organisations delivering a whole range of services, including; Ralli Hall; Hyman Fine House; Helping Hands; religious learning groups including regular shiurim and discussion groups for men and women; an outstanding nursery; services to Jewish students at the university; Chabad; CST; Sussex Friends of Israel; the Sussex Jewish Rep Council; Sussex Outreach Group; special interest groups such as the Jewish Historical Society; the Jewish Arts Society; entertainment groups such as the Chutzpah Choir; Israeli Dance Group and Top Hat Productions and are already held on other days. At present, members of either of the two shuls are free to daven at the other shul if they choose. It therefore makes sense that during the redevelopment at New Church Road, individual members of BHHC are free to choose whether or not they would like to worship at Holland Road where they would undoubtedly be made extremely welcome. This will also provide an opportunity for members of the two congregations to experience the enjoyment of praying together and maybe collaborating in organising joint events. It would begin to establish a foundation for building a unity between the two shuls which reflects the unity already found in our wider community. communal websites and publications such as Sussex As to whether the new development should result in the Jewish News. The vibrancy and energy which all these closure of Holland Road shul, I believe that circumstances groups generate, merge together to create a thriving do not currently exist that justify the need to do so. The Community, giving its members many opportunities to developers at New Church Road have expressed their take pride in and express their Jewishness together. confidence that the new development will attract more What is especially remarkable is that these groups and organisations, whilst working closely together in harmony, are each able to retain their own separate identity. Through the continuing hard work of many, we have a strong, cohesive community which comprehensively addresses the wide variety of needs and aspirations of its members. So why does the proposal to merge the shuls of HHC with people to join the Jewish Community here. If this happens, there will be no need to close a shul in the near future. If, however, future circumstances make the closure of a shul the only sensible way forward, then the members of a united community will be in the best position to reach their own decision – however painful - without having to be told by others. BHHC generate so much angst and frustration among the During my five years here, I have learned that it is not orthodox members of an otherwise compassionate and possible to refer to the Jewish Community in Brighton unified community? and Hove without mentioning football! During the recent I believe that the act of worship is deeply personal. Where we pray on a regular basis is our own individual choice. Praying and the surroundings in which we pray are inextricably linked and have a very personal importance and meaning to each one of us. Being told that our place of worship should be permanently shut down takes away from us that important individual choice of where we would like to daven. World Cup, the England team manager, Gareth Southgate, boldly stated, “We will write our own history”. He was of course referring to the players – not the manager or the coach or the other officials who are involved with the team - the players! Those of us who are members of the two orthodox shuls in Brighton and Hove are at a point at which, together, we can write the next chapter in our own history. Let us be determined to write a history of which we can continue to be justifiably proud. We do not appreciate our choices being restricted by others. However, we do understand when our choices are necessarily affected by changes in circumstances outside our control. If we put to one side our annoyance and exasperation at being told by others what we should Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association provides sheltered accommodation in Central Hove do, we then have to consider whether circumstances have changed sufficiently for those of us who worship at Holland Road shul to agree to relocate to the new shul which is to be built at New Church Road. At the same time, we need to explore those areas where it is possible for two shuls to exist side by side within a unified community, establishing a strong collaborative approach which will benefit us all, without resulting in a shul closure at the present time. It currently has a vacancy for a one bedroom unfurnished flat, suitable for single occupancy. A further vacancy is expected to arise shortly for a flat that could be suitable for a couple. The affordable rent includes central heating; constant hot water; use of garden; television and telephone points For further information concerning either of these flats or to request an application form please telephone 07716 As a weekly attendee at Shabbat services in Holland 114012 or email bahjha@googlemail.com issue 288 | august 2018 10 Features 11 Zeh Rak Da’ati (This is just my opinion) by Godfrey R Gould A few weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a member along the east and west coasts, from Horsham and East of the Editorial Team of SJN suggesting that now I had Grinstead and elsewhere. Another London terminus was nothing to do, maybe I would like to write a regular column opened at Victoria. Travel was often even more uncomfortable for SJN. The assumptions were wrong and right. In the than now. Accidents occurred, one of the best known being June issue I described myself as a ‘Former Guide at Middle that in Clayton Tunnel on 25 August 1861 when 21 people Street Synagogue’ and Gordon Franks acknowledged the died and 176 were badly injured. But there were still just the contributions I had made to the activities of the Sussex two sets of tracks. Everything became so congested that Branch of the Jewish Historical Society of England. an express avoiding line - the Quarry line - was built in 1900 I may be no longer involved in the Open Days at Middle Street but I still conduct special parties round there. I still give many talks. Last month I spoke about Henry Solomon z’l at Florence Place Cemetery and on 16 September Gordon Franks and I will conduct a very limited number of people round there as a part of the Heritage Open Days (book early!). And although I do not now hold any Executive position in the Historical Society that does not stop me being consulted. I still do a lot of writing. I am giving up doing book reviews at round Redhill. Even with the quadrupling of the lines north of South Croydon between 1899 and 1903 the situation just got worse. There were many proposals for new lines none of which ever got to the Statute Book. In 1901 and 1902 there were Bills to build new all-electric railways between London and Brighton, but we had to wait until 1933 for the full electrification of the existing railway. In 1902 there was a Bill to widen the line from Preston Park to Balcombe. We are still waiting! the end of this year, but I still write for the Community On-line There are simply too many trains trying to use very limited Website on London Underground Stations and I write for capacity. Fortunately, trains are faster, and braking power and every issue a short biography in the ‘Shofar’. And much else signalling are far superior, but there is just not enough space. besides. This is exacerbated by the fragmentation between track and But the invitation to write regularly is something I cannot resist. So, to start, here is something Jewish, local, current and personal - the problems with Thameslink. signalling, rolling stock and operation. It cannot work. Dr Beeching was told to make the railways pay. He may have been a brilliant physicist but he was no realist. Railways do not pay in any conventional manner beloved of accountants. The original London and Brighton Railway was opened in 1841 from Brighton to London Bridge Station in London. Much of the funding for the enterprise came from Isaac But they are an economic and social necessity in any advanced 21st century country. Every other such country recognises this except us (or some of us). Lyon Goldsmid, a founder Director of the Company. Later, other members of his extended family were involved as well as the Rothschilds. From the outset, David Mocatta was the Company architect and as the Company grew into the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway other Jews were elected to the Board. From 1856 to 1866, Leo Schuster, a Generally, we must run the railways as integrated systems for the benefit of all of our citizens, and not towards the profits mainly of some bus companies and the nationalised railways of other countries in Europe and Asia. And locally we must build another set of tracks north from Brighton. Jewish financier from Manchester was the Chairman. When “Never in the field of Railway History have so many stupid opened, the railway had two tracks, one north and one south decisions been made by so few to the detriment of so many”. from Brighton to London Bridge. Later other lines joined from (with apologies to WSC). Contributors wanted for a new exhibition about refugees Every year, on January 27, the Lewes Holocaust Memorial Day Group commemorates the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. Next January we will be exploring the theme, ‘Torn from Home’. One aspect of our commemoration will be a photographic exhibition featuring refugees holding an artefact that they brought with them, explaining its relevance and significance to their past, present and future. We would like to contact refugees who have been forced to flee from their home because of war or persecution; or their descendants, who have inherited these artefacts. Refugees might have escaped during the Second World War or from a more recent conflict. issue 288 | august 2018 Professional photographer, Bill Knight, whose acclaimed exhibition ‘The Refugee’s Gift’ was shown along Lewes High Street in January 2016, will be taking the photos. If you want to be involved, we would like to interview and photograph you explaining the importance of your artefact, probably in late September or early October. The exhibition itself will be held in Lewes over several days next January. If you wish to take part, please contact Gaby Weiner, Lewes Holocaust Memorial Day Group, at gaby.weiner@btinternet.com or phone 0791 460 0129. 10 Culture 11 The Chutzpah Choir at la Rencontre des Chorales by Betty P Skolnick The Chutzpah and London Yiddish Choirs came together on 24 June to participate in the Festivale des Cultures Juives in Paris. We were invited by the Centre Medem-Arbeter-Ring, an organization with its origins in the socialist Bund movement which continues to encourage all aspects of Jewish culture, but particularly Yiddish language and culture. As part of the Festivale the Centre had organised a day of choral singing and we joined seven other local Jewish choirs. Who would have thought there were so many Jewish choirs in Paris! The music was very diverse, ranging from Aki Estamos singing in Ladino, to the Hebrew Spiritual Choir. We were the only participants with an entirely Yiddish repertoire, which ranged from a Yiddish version of Schubert’s The Organ Grinder from Die Winterreise to Der Yokh, an anti-fascist song originally sung in Catalan. the Centre’s accommodation and, of course, food and drink, including vodka! Polina Shepherd, our conductor, swept into Paris for 24 hours for the event but most of those singing turned the event into a short holiday. We were treated to a reception at the It was a big effort for 30 minutes of singing, but we enjoyed every minute of it. If only the trains had consistently worked in our favour. Centre Medem on the evening before the concert. Speeches If you would like to join the Chutzpah Choir, or just come of appreciation for the effort we had made to travel to Paris along for a taster session, our autumn term begins on 4 (we were the only foreign choir participating) included a brief, September. For more information please contact Betty regretful reference to Brexit. These were followed by a tour of Skolnick at chutzpahchoir@gmail.com A Serious Man On Sunday 19th August, we present of faith and family A Serious Man. Joel and Ethan Coen delinquent behaviour. return to their comedy roots with this original and darkly humorous story, about one ordinary man’s quest to become a serious man. The title should not be taken too much to heart, as basically it’s a funny film, with As a physics professor his life changes film critics saying it’s when his wife leaves him for his best friend. Apart from this ‘seriously awesome’. ongoing situation, his unemployed brother won’t move off the couch, the kids are a complete mystery to him and everything else seems to be collapsing around him, whichever way he turns. The film starts at 7.30 pm and doors open from 7.00 pm. Free to Ralli Hall members & full-time students, otherwise £4. For more information contact David Bresh at: Struggling to make sense of it all, he consults three different breshdavid1@gmail.com rabbis and their answers lead him on a twisted journey JACS by Shirley Jaffe When Per Simonssen takes on a project he is determined to see it through. As the deputy to Chairman Harold Newman of the National JACS (Jewish Association of Cultural Societies), he wanted to meet all the JACS groups around London, Westcliff and our group in Brighton, well, Hove. On the first date he was booked to come to us, I had to be with a dying friend and there being no other committee members, except our hard-pressed treasurer Moss Kimmelman, who had a medical appointment, I had to postpone Per’s visit. Then, as Per was due to set out from Mill Hill, just for a change ALL the trains from Victoria were cancelled! Not to be defeated Per drove all the way and gave us an informative and entertaining talk and discussion about JACS and his life in Sweden, Dublin and Mill Hill and surprised us all by telling us he knew Brighton well, his late wife having been a Brighton girl. issue 288 | august 2018 Discussion ranged from having entertainers versus speakers, the reduced Jewish population in Sweden - and sadly the increase of anti-semitism there. We are missing our ex-secretary, Janice and do hope she will have recovered sufficiently to be able to come and join us again soon. Speaking of which, we need an influx of new members, to participate - and hopefully to help organise. Apart from our monthly meetings, JACS has been providing two excellent holidays in Eastbourne each year for those who wanted to participate. If you are retirees, or even part retired, want to enjoy stimulating talks on a wide variety of subjects and perhaps make new friends, do come along. Our next meeting will be on August 2nd, and as our teacher speaker has had to withdraw, Tony Jaffe will give a talk about his days in National Service, called “Schoolboy to Soldier”. Do come along - it should be entertaining! 12 HHC Rabbi Hove Email: Hebrew hollandroadshul@btconnect.com Samuel Congregation, de 79 Beck Holland Road, Spitzer www.hollandroadshul.com Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 13 living together better by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer As we move into the ‘Zman Ellul’, the prelude to Rosh I feel that all too often in our society in Britain in 2018, Hashanna, it is incumbent upon us to once again take a these subjects are rarely part of mainstream debate or long look at our lives and the world around us so that we focus and easily discarded as matters for the fainthearted. can make change where necessary and resolution for the After all, aren’t we taught that scoring that top grade at New Year. Perhaps this is why it is the Sefardic custom school and successfully attaining that much sought-after to begin the recitation of Selichot from the first day of the job is how someone is to be valued or perceived? That is month of Ellul, to heighten our sensitivity, for there is little not to negate high aspirations for academic or professional purpose in focusing on our relationship with God, if we do excellence. not ‘clean up our act’ with our fellow man. Perhaps this is one reason why the Yom HaDin (Unlike Yom Kippur) remains a Yom Tov to be celebrated communally and amongst family, so that we do not sever our interpersonal contact on such an auspicious day but on the contrary, we are obliged to mingle. issue 288 | august 2018 Surely it is not by chance that Tisha B’Av is the last significant date that leads us into the Zman Ellul. We are told that the root cause for that date was the lack of dignity and respect afforded one another. We can tangibly feel negative and poisonous aggression even when the perpetrator appears genteel and soft of tone, One issue that seems to play a large part in many peoples’ in fact perhaps even more so. Most of us have been on lives is that of conflict and even violence. Of course, that receiving end at one time or another and it hurts. violence does not always take the form of physical violence Members of clergy, as other people of privileged position, but emotional or verbal violence can be equally devastating are certainly not immune to this and are equally susceptible and therefore, let us focus briefly on what might be the root to feelings of jealousy, anger and territorial control. Often it causes of interpersonal conflict and how we might aim to is beyond their own better judgement or moral compass as resolve them. it seeps into the subconscious and becomes visible for all Is conflict a healthy element in our lives? Do we need a certain level of it in order to progress? Is it a ‘natural’ state of the human condition and how do we address it? These to see. Of course, once perpetrated never to be rescinded and herein lies the source for most inter-generational broyges...you simply cannot erase bad behaviour. questions are not exclusively Jewish but Jews do seem to Therefore, let us resolve anew our commitment on a have a disproportionate dose of it. Is this because Jewish personal, national and global level to offer reverence to communities, as well as individuals, have had to endure our fellow man/woman, no matter his/her stature or social so much violence and opposition throughout millennia status and even when this sentiment is not reciprocated, so that they have developed a high degree of defensiveness, that we strive together for a better world to create harmony or is it due to a latent tendency whereby we are taught not strife. This to my mind is the true Torah way and a to question and challenge until proven otherwise? Any major message for Zman Ellul. exposure to Talmudic discourse will testify to this and it is therefore not surprising that Jews feature disproportionately high within the legal profession, high amongst top ranking lawyers. I am sure that we can agree that there are forms of conflict that are not necessarily negative. However, aggression that is expressed due to bigotry, arrogance, jealousy, control, intolerance and other nefarious factors, voluntary Support Agencies has no place in moral society, the workplace, places of worship or our homes. As a Rabbi, I am increasingly convinced that the correction of negative character traits is probably the single hardest and therefore most pertinent • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 area of religious practice, alongside the other more visible Mitzvot. Such is the moral hierarchy that we have inherited from our Torah sages throughout millennia. • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org Any serious Yeshiva student will tell you that a certain period of his day is dedicated to the study of Mussar, the • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org study and persistent exertion towards the perfection of one’s character traits. The exponents of this area of Torah study were comprised of great Chachamim throughout the ages and experienced a heyday amongst the greatest • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 Lithuanian luminaries. They developed an entire philosophy • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) for life with Mussar at its centre. The name which reigns 01273 735343 supreme in this regard is Rabbi Yisroel Salanter (1809- 1883) and he fought vehemently for this study to permeate any education that was true to Torah ideals. • Jewish Community Centre at Ralli Hall. Various communal activities. 01273 202254 or rallihall@tiscali.co.uk 12 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 13 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 The Journey of Elul by Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah August. The month for summer holidays. This year, the Hebrew month of Elul begins on Saturday evening, 11th August. Elul has a very different feeling about it. Elul is set aside for preparation for the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, also known as Aseret Y’mei T’shuvah, the Ten Days of Returning, which begin on Rosh Ha-Shanah. Commencing on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, Rosh Ha-Shanah ushers in an intense period of reflection and self-examination that culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is not easy to turn our lives around and begin again. The custom of expressing our best wishes to people l’shanah tovah , ‘for a good year’, both in person, and when writing letters – and these days, emails – serves as a daily reminder to ourselves and others that the New Year is approaching. It is also traditional to visit the graves of loved ones during Elul – reminding ourselves of our connection with those who went before us, and the legacy we have received from them. On a more demanding level, Elul is the time to begin to engage in cheshbon ha-nefesh, literally, an ‘account of the soul’ – in much the same way as we examine the state of our finances; an account of our actions towards family, friends, colleagues, fellow congregants, neighbours, people in the wider community, strangers near and far, and the world around us. In the midrash, rabbinic commentary, we find the word Elul treated as an acronym for a verse from the biblical book, ‘The Song of Songs’ (Shir Ha-Shirim): Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li – ‘I am my beloved and my beloved is mine’ (6:3). Ani, like Elul begins with the letter Aleph. The letter Lamed of L’dodi stands for the first Lamed of Elul. The letter Vav of issue 288 | august 2018 V’dodi stands for the Vav of Elul, pronounced here as the Shuruk vowel ‘u’. The last word of the phrase, Li, begins with a Lamed, representing the final Lamed of Elul. This particular midrash represents the journey of the month of Elul as a journey of love towards the Eternal One, who will respond by turning in love towards each person who makes the journey (See: Y. Agnon, Days of Awe, Schocken Books, New York, 1965, p.18). Reflecting on this midrash, made me think of another way of treating Elul as an acronym, which might be helpful for our journey. Aleph is the initial letter of the word, Ahavah, ‘Love’. Lamed is the first letter of the word for ‘Heart’, Leiv or Leivav. Taken on its own the Vav/shuruk vowel ‘U’ means ‘and’ when it precedes the letters Beit, Mem or Pei, or a word where the initial letter has a vocal sh’va – the shortest vowel sound in Hebrew. The word for ‘accompany’ or ‘escort’, l’vayah, which is the Hebrew word for ‘funeral’, begins with a Lamed and a vocal sh’va. So, we can understand Elul as a journey requiring Ahavah, Leivav U’L’vayah, ‘Love, Heart And Accompanying’. We need love for ourselves and for others and for the Eternal to motivate us to make the journey. We need heart – which in the biblical worldview is the seat of thought rather than emotion – that is, we need to think and reflect on our individual lives. Finally, we need to remember that just as we accompany those who have died on their final journey, we are summoned to accompany one another as we trek towards renewal. Although each one of us must face ourselves, we are not alone. Let us make the journey of Elul together. Events@BHPS Open Wednesdays BHPS is open on Wednesday from 11 am – 4 pm for social activities. These include scrabble, chess, bridge, kalooki, exercise classes, computer training, access to the library and crafts. Please bring a packed lunch (vegetarian or permitted fish). Hot drinks are available. Ring the office for further details if you would like to join us. High Holyday Tickets High Holyday Tickets are available from the office. Please email or ring the office for more details. Students and members of other progressive congregations are free but will need a ticket for security purposes. BHPS proudly presents our Third Season of Lectures and Lunches for 2018/19 Sundays • 11.30am Welcoming drink on arrival • 12 to 1.00pm Lecture by guest speaker and Q&A session • 1pm to 3.00pm Lunch including wine or soft drinks and coffee • Only £22.50 per person, less 10% discount if all 5 booked. • Bookings to be taken soon, to a maximum of 70 people. • Non-members and their friends welcome October 14: Ann Berger, director of development, promoting the life changing medical research funded by The Rose Tree Trust. December 2: Dr Wilf Assin, consultant psychiatrist on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. ‘Not all wounds are visible’. January 27: Sir Anthony Seldon, nationally renowned educationalist, on his latest book. (Title still under wraps!) February 24: Aviva Dautch, literary scholar and poet on ‘The remarkable Isaac Rosenberg’. The First World War poet who was killed in action 1918. March 31: Dr David Jacobson, eminent Jewish historian at Kings College, London on ‘Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem’. The most magnificent building in the Roman Empire in 20 BC. PLUS Sunday: Nov 25: 10am - 5 pm: The Famous BHPS Annual Art Exhibition Collectible original art and prints together with jewellery, ceramics and pottery. Featuring the renowned Cecil Rice and other local and UK artists. All items available to purchase on the day together with Tea/ Cake and beautiful cards. 14 BHRS Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue, Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE Tel: 01273 735343 Email: office@bh-rs.org www.bh-rs.org https://www.facebook.com/BrightonReform 15 BrightonReform issue 288 | august 2018 Israel at a crossroads. Or: will we manage to survive without anti-Zionist Challah? by Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo There is no end to the debate triggered by the group of Jewish extremists who organised a demonstration in front of Westminster, including the recitation of Kaddish for terrorists. Now we learn that Ariel Gold, an American citizen, was denied entry into Israel, despite having a regular visa for study reasons. Why? For being a member of Jewish Voices for Peace, one of the groups who was at Westminster mourning the terrorists. We have been told that Israel is taking a terrible direction, towards censorship, Fascism, fundamentalism... these kinds of alarms resonate since around 1977, and each time we are told that the incumbent government is the most right-wing in the history of Israel. But this time the question seems really serious. How can you deny Ariel Gold the right to enter Israel? Ariel Gold has a very famous blog “Vegans against the Occupation”. Look for it and read it for yourself. “Walls, checkpoints, and Israeli Military Court Appearances”, “Back in Palestine” (so she has already been in Israel?). Dramatic, yes! But there is very little that is food-related, apart from some Arabic recipes which she has decided to call Palestinian. And of course, this: Vegan Anti-Zionist Sweet Potato Challah. Challah is a bread made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering in memory of the Temple in Jerusalem. I wonder how can it be anti-Zionist? And I wonder how can Israel be so foolish to prevent a similar comic genius from entering the country? Wait a minute, she is not a stand-up comedian. She is an activist. And this is sad! Truly Israel is losing the support of the most enlightened public opinion. The most right-wing government of its history is leading the Country into a dead end, far from the most progressive Jews, such as the inventor of the anti-Zionist Challah. The future of the Jewish people is indeed in danger... Then I remembered that our Synagogue has recently chosen to adopt an “Israeli First” policy regarding the food we buy for our Kiddush. Does this mean, the people who participate in our functions will find themselves deprived of the opportunity to affirm their support for the Palestinians, by consuming the unmissable anti-Zionist Challah? I wonder how we’ll survive. I thank my friend Daniel Staetsky for the culinary briefing. Editor’s Note: The sweet potato is of South American origin. Introduced to Europe by the Spanish, it spread to India and the Peloponnese islands but not the Middle East. This may be why it was chosen as the ingredient in the anti-Zionist Challah. However, the sweet potato is grown in Israel, so maybe not anti- Zionist after all! Bulletin Board - August Friday 3 6.30 pm Shabbat Kolot Saturday 4 10.30 am Shabbat Service led by Simon Followed by a special Kiddush Friday 10 6.30 pm Erev Shabbat Service led by Jason Saturday 11 10.30 am Shabbat Service led by Jason Sunday 12 2.30 pm Helping Hands Community Tea The diary is subject to change. 14 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 15 The Peace of the City by Rabbi Hershel Rader The history of the Jewish people stretches back for over other positions of communal responsibility – both within the more than four millennia; a long time before 1844 when Henry Jewish community and the wider community. His role within Solomon was so brutally murdered! the police force, charged with the responsibility to keep the Some 3,330 years ago the Israelites emerged from Egyptian slavery, journeyed through the wilderness and settled in the peace, embodied the exhortation to ‘seek the peace of the city in which I have caused you to be exiled’. Promised Land. Their descendants lived there for hundreds So, when we remember Henry Solomon we remember, of years. Eventually the northern tribes were taken into exile not only an individual but also, an ideal which has been a and later, approximately 850 years after Joshua led them into mainstay of Jewish existence for over two and a half millennia the Land, the southern tribes were exiled by the Babylonian and which should serve as a lesson to both us and the wider emperor Nebuchadnezzar. For 850 years they had been community for the future. an independent, self-governing nation with their capital in the holy city of Jerusalem and with a magnificent Temple constructed by King Solomon. Now they find themselves in exile, their capital laid waste and Temple destroyed. We can This article is adapted from the remarks of Rabbi Hershel Rader at the Memorial Service for Henry Solomon at Florence Place Cemetery held on 1st July 2018. understand the psalmist’s lament; ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Zion’. How does an exiled people react to such a situation? How do they come to terms with their lack of independence and self-determination? What attitude should they adopt to their conquerors? The prophet Jeremiah sends them a pastoral letter outlining the answers to these questions. Within this letter we find the following words; ‘Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and have sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply, and do not diminish. Seek the peace of the city in which I caused you to be exiled, and pray unto G d for it; for in its peace you shall have peace...’ (Jeremiah 29) These words determined the attitude of the Jewish exiles in Babylon and, in fact, Jewish exiles in countries and communities the world over for the next 2,600 years. Henry Solomon, in many ways, embodied these sentiments. He retained his unique Jewish identity but also played a role within the city in which he found himself. Before he became Chief Officer of Police in Brighton, he occupied issue 288 | august 2018 FOR YOUR CALENDAR Shabbat Dinner Bookings are now being taken for Friday 3 August at 8.00 pm. Just £10.00 for a fully catered, three course meal. Places are limited. All welcome. Bookings should be made via the Shul Office by ringing 01273 888 855 or emailing: office@bhhc-shul.org Annual Summer Barbeque Our Annual Summer Barbeque will take place this year on Sunday 2 September in the Shul grounds from 12.30 pm. Great food and atmosphere. Adults - £17.50 Children - £7.50. Book your place by contacting the Shul office on 01273 888 855 or office@ bhhc-shul.org. Bookings must be made by Thursday 23 August. 16 What’s on: August 2018 Website: www.sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org IMPORTANT INFORMATION For visitors using a satellite navigation system in their vehicle. JEWISH CEMETERY, MEADOWVIEW, BRIGHTON The post code for this cemetery is BN2 4DE Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com SJN Email: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk JEWISH CEMETERY, OLD SHOREHAM RD, HOVE The post code for this cemetery is BN3 7EF. 16 SHABBAT SHAlOM – BRIGHTON TIMES In Light candles Out Havdalah Fri 3 8.25 pm Sat 4 9.40 pm Fri 10 8.13 pm Sat 11 9.26 pm Fri 17 7.59 pm Sat 18 9.10 pm Fri 24 7.45 pm Sat 25 8.54 pm Mondays lunch & learn with Rabbi Efune 12.30 - 1.30 pm at the Brighton Hillel Centre, 66/67 Middle Street, Brighton. Tel: 01273 321919 Fri 31 7.30 pm Sat 1 Sept 8.37 pm Afternoon Club with tea 1.30 pm. Ralli Hall. Tel: Reba 01444 484839 NOTABlE DATES Mon 27 Bank Holiday Rubber and Duplicate Bridge 1.30 pm - 4.30 pm £4.00 + £1.00 transport Ralli Hall. Tel: Reba 01444 484839 Contemporary Basic Talmud with Rabbi Efune. Men only. 8.15 pm at Chabad House 01273 321919 COMMUNITy EvENTS – IMPORTANT REMINDER: Contact the Communal Diary before planning your events. Email: sussexjewishrepco@gmail.com Torah & Tea with Penina Efune. Personalising Prayer: an in-depth look at the Morning Prayers and their relevance and meaning for our lives. Enjoy herbal teas and delicious snacks. All ladies welcome. 8.00 pm at Chabad House 01273 321919 PlEASE NOTE: OUR NEXT ISSUE WIll BE FOR SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER, SO PlEASE SEND yOUR ACTIvITy DETAIlS FOR BOTH MONTHS By 8 AUGUST Tuesdays Something to Say? - Discussion Group with Rabbi Samuel, every other Tuesday Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove 10.30 am Tel: 01273 732035 Ralli Hall lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 Weekly Ralli Hall Painting with Rochelle (JAS) Studio at Ralli Hall, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. Tel: 07811 601106. NOTE: Summer break from 3 July – 9 October Chutzpah Choir yiddish singing in 4 parts with Polina Shepherd. 11.00 am – 1.00 pm weekly. For Hove venue contact chutzpahchoir@gmail.com or tel. Betty on 01273 474795 Israeli Dancing 7.45 pm - 9.45 pm Ralli Hall Tel: Jacky 01273 688538 Wednesdays Eastbourne liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism) Coffee morning, 11.00 am, 1st Wednesday of each month, Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 Thursdays Mummy and Me Goes Sensory (0-2 yrs) @ Montessori Nursery from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm. Enjoy a stimulating and engaging environment, healthy snacks, meaningful discussions and music time! Ralli Hall lunch and Social Club 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Weekly. Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH JACS members are invited on the first Thursday of every month to the RHL&SC Tel: Jacqueline 01273 739999 RH Bridge at Ralli Hall 11.00 am Weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Efune - men and ladies welcome - 8.15- 9.15 pm at Chabad House. 01273 321919 Fridays Kuddle Up Shabbat parent & child playgroup with Sara Zanardo and her guitar will recommence in the Autumn term Eastbourne liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 6.30 pm on the 4th Friday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 Please note that our next issue will be for September 725650 and October 2018. Saturdays The deadline for your announcements, news, views, Eastbourne Hebrew Congregation Shabbat services at 22, Susans articles, photos, adverts, etc., is 8th August 2018. Road, Eastbourne, 10.00 am. Contact 01323 484135 or 07739 082538 PlEASE COMPlETE AND RETURN yOUR NEW yEAR GREETINGS FORM TO BE SURE THAT THEy WIll BE INClUDED IN THE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ISSUE OF SJN REGUlAR ACTIvITIES - AUGUST EvENTS IN AUGUST July 30-August 10 Summer Camp Gan Izzy 10.00 am – 3.00 pm for boys and girls aged 5-12 at New Church Road Synagogue. For details contact Rabbi Efune on 07885 538681 Thursday 2 JACS members joining Ralli Hall lunch & Social Club with guest speaker Tony Jaffe who will be giving a talk about memories of National Service entitled, “Schoolboy to Soldier”. Contact Jacqueline on 01273 739999 Wednesday 8 Sussex Jewish News - submission deadline for August 2018 issue Send your articles, thoughts, photos and announcements to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org Sunday 12 Helping Hands Community Tea at Ajex Centre, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30 - 4.30 pm. Donation £3.00. Transport can be arranged. Contact 01273 747722 Tuesday 14 Deadline day for your New year Greetings form Sussex Jewish Golfing Society meeting at Littlehampton Golf Club. Contact ashley@sportscastnet.com Friday 17 Sussex Jewish Outreach Group Friday Night Dinner in Chichester. Contact nick@sussexjewishoutreach.com Sunday 19 Sussex Jewish Film Club presents ‘A Serious Man’ at Ralli Hall, Denmark Villas, Hove. 7.00 for 7.30 pm. Donation £4.00 Eastbourne liberal Jewish Community (affiliated to Liberal Judaism). Service at 12.30 pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, at CTK Hall, Eastbourne, BN23 6HS. Information: www.eljc.org.uk or phone 01323 725650 issue 288 | august 2018 -
Issue 287
July 2018
WHAT’S INSIDE.... LOCAL HONOUR AT JEWISH BOOK AWARD | KLEZMER SOUTH | PUPIK WHAT’S ON | AND MORE JULY 2018 • TAMMUZ / AV 5778 • ISSUE 287 2 Pause for Thought 3 The National Jewish Book Award On 6 March 2018 in New York, change have played in the Gideon Reuveni, Director of development of Jewish the Centre for German-Jewish identity, Jewish politics and Studies at the University of perceptions of Jews that Sussex, was awarded the Dorot increasingly became tied to Foundation Award in Memory of their roles as both producers Joy Ungerleider Mayerson in the and consumers. In the National category of Modern Jewish Thought Jewish Book Council review, and Experience, at the National the book was described as Book Award. He received this for a ‘well-written and incisive his study of Consumer Culture study’. It was further explained and the Making of Modern Jewish that ‘this work fundamentally Identity. The National Book Awards changes and enriches our programme began in 1950 when perspective on the image of the American Jewish Book Council Jews, as well as their self- presented awards to authors of perception, in the modern Jewish books at its annual meeting. world’. Consumer Culture and the Gideon was commended by Making of Modern Jewish the Centre for German-Jewish Identity elucidates the role that Studies on this splendid consumption and economic achievement. EDITORIAL BOARD Doris Levinson, Stephanie Megitt, Michael Rich, SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. Delivered at the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers for reporting, editing and circulating ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 David Seidel. TECHNICAL ADVISOR Brian Megitt ADMINISTRATOR Hazel Coppins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ivor Sorokin COMMUNAL DIARY info@sussexjewishrepresentativecouncil.org each edition. It has become the cornerstone of COVER IMAGE Brian Megitt the Jewish community across the region. PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Gemini Press SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8 JULY 2018 Email address for submissions and correspondence: sjneditor@sussexjewishnews.com or editor@sjn.org.uk SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS SUBSCRIPTION Name:_______________________________________________ Date:_________________________ Address:___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Postcode:____________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Telephone:____________________ Subscription (tick one) ❑ I would like to receive electronic copies of SJN. £20 p/a ❑ I would like to receive printed copies of SJN. £27 p/a. ❑ I enclose my cheque payable to Sussex Jewish News at PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ ❑ I have made a bank transfer to the Sussex Jewish News at Lloyds Bank, Sort Code 30-98-74, Account No. 00289447 and I have included my name as a reference to ensure my subscription is noted. 2 Sussex Jewish News PO Box 2178 • Hove BN3 3SZ Telephone: 07906 955 404 Contents 3 FEATURES 1 CONSTRUCTION IN JERUSALEM Photo by Brian Megitt 2 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT Dr Gideon Reuveni of the Centre for German- Jewish Studies receives a National Jewish Book Award 7 COMING SOON A Pupik arrives in Worthing 8 IN MEMORIAM Obituaries REGULARS 4 SUSSEX AND THE CITY Your news, views and stories from across the county 10 CULTURE The first Klezmer South 16 WHAT’S ON – JULY Regular and special events in your community YOUR COMMUNITY 12 BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 13 HOVE HEBREW CONGREGATION 14 BRIGHTON & HOVE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE 15 BRIGHTON & HOVE REFORM SYNAGOGUE Full page (A4 size) £170 Half page (A5 size) £100 Quarter page (A6 size) £65 1/9 page (credit card size) £40 Personal Announcements in a box (up to 6 lines): £25 Announcements up to 3 lines £10 Flyers: Price on application Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the content to others for comment. To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to sjneditor@sussexjewishnews. com, otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. To assist the Editorial Board, submissions should be in Word format using Times New Roman font, size 12. Receipt of submissions may not be acknowledged, unless specifically requested. As the Editorial Board is made up entirely of BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 volunteers, any response may be subject to delay. ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 Note: Change of Date Sunday 12th August At the AJEX Hall, Eaton Road, Hove 2.30pm - 4.30pm Tea & Entertainment Donation £3 Including Raffle ticket Please call Helping Hands 01273 747722 if ou wish to attend. Transport can be arranged. We look forward to seeing ou. Communit Tea 4 Sussex and the City 5 Your news Births Thank you Mazel Tov to Rebecca Graber and Chris Johnson on the birth of their daughter Esther Maya Irvyn Isaacs z’l Special birthdays Barbara Isaacs, together with Robert, Elena and Angela Mazel tov to Charles Cyzer, Juliette Rajak, Bernard Roland and Judith Yaffe and all who have special birthdays this month thank their family, the Rabbonim, their many friends and acquaintances and the community on the comfort and support, including visits, letters and cards which they received on the death of their beloved husband and Mazel tov to Bernard Roland on your 80th birthday. father Irvyn z’l. With much love from Marianne, Andrew, Marcia, Isobel and Saul. Michael Brummer z’l Achievements Danny and Alex Brummer would like to express their appreciation for all the wonderful messages, phone calls Mazel tov to Ivor Caplin who is to be the next Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement and letters of condolence received on the recent passing of their father Michael Brummer (zikhrono livrakha) at the age of 103 years. He led a remarkably long and adventurous life and the support of the local communities Special Anniversaries: and tributes paid to him have been both moving and inspiring. They have helped the family to bear the grief. Mazel tov to Margaret and Robin Wood on the celebration of their Brighton and Hove has lost a real Tzadik. Golden Wedding Anniversary Deaths Rabbi Charles Wallach would like to thank those who expressed condolences to him on the loss of his sister, We wish Long Life to Ruth Wallach. • Alex, Danny and family on the passing of their father, Michael Brummer z’l Kosher Food and Nosh • David Rothstein and family on the passing of his mother Anita Rothstein z’l Ivor Caplin The KLBD Roadshow is coming to Holland Road Shul on 31 July. Only £3.00 to include light refreshments. Time to be announced. • The family of Joyce Friend z’l (formerly Joyce Miller) wife of Geof Friend and mother of Darren and Marc Miller KLBD Roadshow Your views I have been an avid reader of SJN for some years, probably since its inception. It is an excellent publication and helps enormously to keep the community together with news and interesting and thought-provoking articles. But one in particular that caught my eye in the last edition was ‘Being Green’. I don’t know who the author is nor where it came from but I hope that it reaches a wider audience. It was a wonderful commentary on modern life and so true. It brought back many memories. Congratulations on producing a great magazine and I look forward to receiving the next edition. Best wishes, John Gold ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 Arrange a KLBD Roadshow for your shul, charity or group Taste over 90 newly KLBD certified products sold in shops and supermarkets everywhere. Contact Sharon Feldman-Vazan 020 8343 6327, 07956 563778, sharonfv@klbdkosher.org “Fantastic event. Everyone loved tasting the huge selection of products that they hadn’t realised were kosher.” 4 Sussex and the City 5 News from the Outreach by Nick Beck West Sussex Jewish Community held a Friday night service and light dinner the day before Shavuot. Around 2 dozen people enjoyed the service, led by Gerry Crest, with food catered by Annette Norris. This was the first actual service for the WSJC and despite using an array of Siddurim, the experience was very enjoyable. At the next of the monthly Shabbat evenings, hopefully we will have use of our own Siddurim, as edited by Gerry. ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 This will be at the Heene Community Centre, Heene Road, Worthing BN11 4PL starting at 7.30 pm. After the Kiddush there will be a finger buffet. There is always an element of food, so people have time to enjoy each other’s company. At the same time as we are developing our act in West Sussex. We also plan to develop into the north of the County (between Horsham, Crawley and East Grinstead) as we estimate there to be approximately 350 Jewish people in those areas. We are also receiving overtures from the Seaford and Eastbourne areas and we hope to develop there in the next weeks and months. Each area is different. Whereas we inherited an ongoing community in Worthing and there is a shul in Eastbourne, other towns require us to develop from the start. We welcome all, whatever denomination or none. We are not in competition with the shuls, as we have a very active working relationship with most of them. We welcome all enquiries and offers of help. Our website will tell you more -www.sussexjewishoutreach.com or email us at nick@sussexjewishoutreach.com or phone 01273 728178. Ralli Hall by Roger Abrahams Our AGM took place on 13th June. I shall report on this in the August issue: I am pleased to say that we had new nominees for the management committee. Those of you who are members of B&HJCF will have received their AGM papers during the month of May and will have had the opportunity of reading the Minutes of the last AGM and also my Hon. Chairman’s Report. 2016 was not a particularly good year with respect to our financial situation. However, things have picked up a good deal since then and you will have seen in our latest Financial Statement, also included with the AGM papers, that not only have we made up the previous deficit, but also we finished the year well in the black. My particular thanks to our Centre Manager, Maxine Gordon, who has worked extremely hard to bring in the cash, despite difficult and worrying family health problems, fortunately since resolved. 2017 saw a number of new clients using our excellent facilities, plus a great many important Community events held in the Great Hall and the Magrill Lounge. To save repeating myself, please refer to my Hon. Chairman’s Report for last year, where I have provided a good deal of information concerning the happenings at Ralli Hall and also took the opportunity of introducing our new caretaker, Jon Gaffikin, who continues to surprise me with his myriad skills and as mentioned previously, his sunny disposition. Finally, I must take this opportunity of mentioning an amusing, heartwarming and lucrative ten week commercial letting, which will have finished by the time you read this. Known as The Posh Club, this has provided a Friday lunchtime entertainment and activity for, to quote, Swanky Senior Citizens, Elegant Elders and Glamorous Golden Girls, for the 60+s. Those attending (for just £5.00, as it is backed by the Arts Council), have enjoyed a cream tea, Vaudeville-style entertainment, an opportunity to dance, or just to meet like- minded persons, whilst dressed in their best. Every week the Great Hall has been full to overflowing for a fun-filled three hours and we already have a provisional booking for next year. I have been told by the organisers, two delightful young ladies, that they have thoroughly enjoyed their time at Ralli Hall and that The Posh Club is successfully held in a number of venues around the country and also in other English- speaking countries. I gather that it has received about 1.2 million approvals on Facebook – not bad, eh? I look forward to seeing you at Ralli Hall. Voluntary Support Agencies • Ralli Hall Lunch & Social Club (Day Centre) 01273 739999 ralliday@tiscali.co.uk • Norwood/Tikvah, Rachel Mazzier House 01273 564021 • Hyman Fine House 01273 688226 • Helping Hands 01273 747722 helping-hands@helping-hands.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Welfare Board 07952 479111 or info@bhjwb.org; website: www.bhjwb.org • Brighton & Hove Jewish Housing Association. bahjha@googlemail.com • Welfare at Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue/L’chaim project 01273 737223 • Welfare Officer at Brighton & Hove Reform. (Sue Rosenfield) 01273 735343 • Jewish Community Centre at Ralli Hall. Various communal activities. 01273 202254 or rallihall@tiscali.co.uk 6 Sussex and the City 7 Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club by Jacquie Tichauer We are delighted that we were awarded £315 from Waitrose come in and have a ‘The Community Matters’ - so to everyone who put the green word with me? coins into our box - thank you very much. (This is from all those 5ps we now pay for carrier bags). We are very grateful to Waitrose and thank them very much. As stated in the last SJN, we are starting a choir and we really Our regular quiz afternoons are becoming a great success need someone to and oh boy! I really believe we have some competition for the Eggheads. help us get this off the ground. The person We had our first film afternoon on 31 May when we showed The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond. Of course, you cannot we are looking for needs to come in have a film without popcorn and ice cream, but unfortunately only for an hour on a there were a few teething problems which will be sorted out Tuesday or Thursday by our next film. afternoon once a Our new menus are a great hit with sweet and sour chicken or spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread as well as our pancakes for dessert. Sounds good? Why not come and try our great menu? month. I would take the choir myself but unfortunately my singing is definitely not up to par! So We really need some new volunteers and members for a please, if you have an hour to spare or have a friend who Tuesday or a Thursday. We are a friendly crowd, so why not could help us, we would appreciate this so much. Sussex Jewish Golfing Society by Richard Simmons Our June meeting at Ifield Golf Club near Crawley was our Our meeting on 18 July will be at the picturesque Singing Captain’s Day and was thoroughly enjoyed by a large number Hills Golf Club in Albourne, where we will be playing for the of our members. We have not visited this parkland course for Sugarman Trophy, one of our major annual trophies. We hope many years and it was great to hold our meeting at the club Lucy Sugarman will be joining us for the evening meal to where our Captain, Malcolm Sharpe, has been a member for present the trophy to the winner. many years. We are looking for new members to join us, both male and Our June matches at the Dyke Golf Club against Potters female, accomplished golfers or beginners, young or not Bar Golf Club and the Dyke’s Early Birds Golf Society were so young. For more information please contact our Hon annual fixtures which we always look forward to, as many of Secretary Ashley Woolfe at: ashley@sportscastnet.com our opponents have become good friends over the years. As usual, the matches were keenly fought. On 13 June, we were honoured to host the prestigious Metropolitan golf competition at the Dyke, organised by and Brighton and Hove Jewish Housing Association under the auspices of the Association of Jewish Golf Clubs and Societies. Despite very demanding course conditions, we acquitted ourselves very well against strong teams from the London Jewish golf clubs and golf societies. This was good practice for the equally prestigious Glancy competition at Abridge Golf and Country Club in Essex on 7 and 8 July, when we compete against Jewish golf clubs and golf societies from all over the UK and Ireland. Also, for the Southern Provincial competition at Hartsbourne Golf Has a vacancy in central Hove For a one bedroom unfurnished flat Suitable for single occupancy Affordable rent includes – central heating, constant hot water use of garden, television and telephone points. Please telephone 07716 114012 or and Country Club when, as defending champions, we will compete against teams from the London Jewish golf clubs and societies. email bahjha@googlemail.com for an application form ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 6 Coming soon 7 A Tale of Friendship, Immigration and... Belly Buttons in Worthing by Yael Breuer Pupik - Yiddish and colloquial Hebrew for belly button - is a theatrical performance that tells the story of immigration, adaptation and life-long friendship through dance, movement, humour and various spoken languages. This is a story of two women, performed by London-born Naomi Silman and Tel Aviv-born Yael Karavan, whose own lives, journeys and families’ backgrounds were the inspiration for the performance. Yael Karavan, now living in Brighton and the founder of the Karavan Ensemble, and Naomi Silman, who lives in Brazil and is a member of acclaimed company Lume Teatro, met twenty- two years ago as students at The Ecole Philippe Gaulier in London. Although they worked together on various projects over the years, this production is their first joint collaboration as creators and performers. In Pupik they tell the story - using a mixture of English, Hebrew, French and Portuguese - of two women living on opposite sides of the world but tied unconditionally to each other by their deep friendship, striking similarities and common ancestors. “We try to unearth what connects us despite our differences. We want to take the audience on a journey through time and space, unveiling the layers of their personal stories and ancestral backgrounds, tracing a line from the personal to the universal in the attempt to tackle some vital contemporary questions about identity, roots, displacement, borders, and the concept of a Home”, says Naomi. Even though both Naomi and Yael are Jewish, and the performance is based on their own backgrounds - Yael’s ancestors hailed from Eastern Europe and she herself travelled the world with her family as a young girl, due to her father’s job as a sculptor, while Naomi made Aliya with her mother at the age of nine - they emphasise that it is not necessarily and exclusively the story of the Jewish people. “Despite being inspired by the concept of the Wandering Jew, the need to adapt to other cultures, languages and countries is very common these days by so many different people. There are so many refugees, from many different cultures, and many people who find themselves ‘foreigners forever’ or eternal immigrants. They, too have stories of nomadic lives, or displacement and of adaptation”, says Yael. The show ends with the two women being physically connected through a red ribbon that is attached to their belly buttons, their ‘Pupik’, as a symbolic element of a strong bond. “The ribbon is of course a metaphorical connection, a link through our very core. We look inside ourselves and at each other to find meaning and to bring that meaning from our own personal selves to the stories of others,” says Naomi. Pupik is coming to the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, on 24th and 25th July at 8.00 pm. Prices- £11/£10. To book - https://worthingtheatres.co.uk/ show/pupik/ ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 COMPETITION In what context would your Jewish grandmother have used the word Pupik? Send your answers by email to SJN by 12 July and one lucky person will win a free ticket to see the show on 25 July. (All replies will be put into a hat and the lucky ticket drawn by an independent verifier.) 8 In Memoriam 9 A Personal Appreciation of Irvyn Isaacs (z’l) by Ivor Richards Jewish tradition holds Maidstone but in 1970 they moved to Brighton together with that the world exists only us, their three children. Here, he joined Abbey Life and gained because of 36 righteous a wonderful reputation for his integrity in business. people. It has been my privilege to know three of them. They were my Over the past few days, people have spoken to us and described Dad in the following ways: late father-in-law, Joe da What a lovely man Costa and his brother Ben (z’l), and the third was Irvyn Isaacs. I had the pleasure of knowing him both socially What a gentleman What a gentle man A good friend Someone who could always be relied upon and communally. Although we belonged to different synagogues this did not Dad impressed upon us to ‘always do the right thing’. If we had a family crest, that would be the motto! prevent us from working Dad loved community. He felt it important to contribute his together for the benefit time, effort, skills and talents, being treasurer of a number of the whole community of societies, including the Synagogue, the Syd Lawrence – I as Chairman and Irvyn Orchestra Society and the Crescent Operatic, amongst as vice-Chairman of the others. (then) Brighton & Hove Jewish Representative Council. I can say with complete sincerity that we never had a cross word or disagreement on any significant matter and his advice was He loved people He loved being with people always concise and to the point. He loved having a house full of friends Some of us may remember his dedicated efforts to help bring He loved having a house full of family about a full merger of the Orthodox communities, an effort Dad was good at asking questions. He was even better at which he led almost to fruition. Although this did not succeed listening to the answers. Nothing filled him with more joy than for reasons beyond his control, he may well have pointed hearing about the lives and achievements of his five fabulous the way for later efforts as we may see in the not too distant grandchildren. future. Should this transpire it would be right for Irvyn’s earlier efforts to be remembered in a fitting way. You will all know that Mum and Dad were a marvellous Team. They were married for over 58 years. Despite his illness, his I am also aware that in the branch of financial services to biggest concern was always for Mum’s welfare. And he spent which he devoted much of his productive years, he developed his final months ensuring that she was able to take over all and retained a reputation for putting his clients’ interests the roles and responsibilities that they had shared. ahead of his own, and this in a field which is littered with many examples of the latter - another example of his integrity and adherence to the Jewish values in which he believed. And finally, he knew that she would be supported and cared for by this wonderful community of devoted family and friends. I could not possibly cover all of his qualities in such a short memoir. Everyone who knew him will be able to add their own personal memories. Mine are of a good friend, a dedicated family and community man and, above all, a good soul. May he rest in peace. Thoughts of Irvyn Isaacs z’l from his children, Robert, Elena and Angela Our Dad was born in Coventry in 1933 where his father, Reverend Philip Isaacs was the Minister of the local synagogue. He was articled and qualified as a chartered accountant, following which he was called up to do his National Service. Subsequently he lived in London where he worked as a company accountant with the Reed Paper Group. He met our Mum in 1959 and they got married six months later in 1960. They lived in Edgware and then in ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 8 In Memoriam 9 Michael Brummer Z’l A tribute by Alex Brummer The last journey of my to his birthplace to visit his parents and younger siblings father, Michael Brummer, in territory under Hungarian control. He was beaten up at took the cortege past the station by Arrow Cross thugs but made his way to the the Hove Hebrew family home and farm and encouraged his younger brother Congregation on Holland to escape with him to England, where his older brother Hillel Road, which had been already was established as Chazan-Mohel at St Annes near such an important part of Liverpool. his life. The doors of the shul had been especially opened along with the gates to the aron kodesh. As the procession reached the doors in the milky May sunshine, His younger brother was turned back at the Czech border and, like the rest of the family, was caught up in the Shoah. My father’s parents were to die at Auschwitz. His younger siblings, through grit and willpower, survived. My father eventually made it to England as Neville Chamberlain declared war. Rabbi Samuel de Beck It was a blessed escape and he had an early introduction Spitzer miraculously to British tolerance when an unknown lady engaged him in appeared to make the conversation and walked him across London from Victoria to delivery of a cake for the Kings Cross to help him on his way to Liverpool. Shabbat Kiddush. He stood on the steps of the synagogue, opened his lungs and recited verses from tehillim (psalms). Passing cars stopped and waited reverently, paying a silent tribute to an unknown warrior. He eventually settled in Brighton as a farmer, poultry supplier and kosher butcher as well as delicatessen proprietor. He would meet my mother, from the old established Anglo-Jewish Lyons family, on the steps of Middle Street synagogue. My father Michael lived to 103 years, outlasting all of his generation in the golden era of Hove Jewry when the pews of Holland Road synagogue were packed. Congregants came to hear the golden voice of Chazan Kalman Fausner, the spluttered and passionate sermons of Rabbi Wilner and the full-throated chants of the Rev Shlomo Josephs. As a longstanding warden and vice-president there was no more outstanding servant to the community than Michael. Right up Few who came into his shop on Waterloo Street, then the Golders Green Road of Hove, knew of the adventures which brought Michael to Brighton. The heyday of Brighton and Hove Jewry is past. My father was the link in the golden chain to a new generation on the south coast. The old-established communities are seeking to rebuild shuls and community centres for a new generation. until his 103rd birthday he was in his seat smiling, shaking Michael’s death marks the end of an era. hands, worrying about the minyan and immersed in prayer. A long and complex journey brought my dad to Brighton. He was born in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains on the border between Hungary and Czechoslovakia near the town of Berehove. It was territory which would change hands six times in his lifetime, eventually landing in the Ukraine. At the age of 14 he travelled to Pressburg (Bratislava) where his older brother Hillel was training to be a cantor. My father was a glass merchant’s apprentice but also became part of the Yeshiva community and attracted to the tough intellectual Zionism of Ze’ev Jabotinsky. From there my father found himself drawn to a pre-Israel naval unit based near Genoa in Italy, where he spent two years training to become an arm of the future Jewish state. In 1938, with conflict widening across Europe, my father and his Zionist compatriots, in their naval uniforms, sailed to Palestine, with the intention of landing in Haifa. Instead they were turned away by British mandate forces and warning shots were fired. The young Zionist sailors returned to Europe in the midst of the Anschluss as Nazi troops swarmed across Austria. Making his way across war-strewn Europe, my father returned All photos courtesy of Melanie Seligman ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 MARTIN GROSS Memorials All aspects of stone-masonry undertaken from new to renovation and cleaning 01273 439792 07801 599771 10 11 Culture The First Klezmer South by Jackie Fuller and Doris Levinson It all started when a member of the local Chutzpah Choir, led by Polina Shepherd, asked whether there was anywhere she could learn to play klezmer without having to go to London to the Jewish Music Institute. The short answer was ‘no’ but that led to the idea of having a workshop day of playing, singing and dancing here in Brighton & Hove. A ‘KlezNorth’ had existed for some years in Derbyshire, so why not a ‘Klezmer South’? Several choir members put up some very generous seed money to cover up-front expenses which it was hoped to recoup through ticket sales. One member offered to design the flyers, another to set up and manage the website and volunteers came forward to help in many other ways: hosting the teachers and visitors, manning the registration desk, photocopying music sheets and timetables, organising refreshments on the day, helping with publicity, and so forth. Polina and Merlin Shepherd set about inviting other teachers and agreeing terms with them. Some rooms were booked at B&H High School in Montpelier Road, convenient to shops and not too far from the evening concert at the Brunswick pub in Holland Road. And so it all came together as a collective effort and just over 50 people signed up for the workshop on Sunday 10 June, with the concert (also open to the public) being completely sold out several days before the event. During the day, as well as the playing, Yiddish singing and dancing, much enjoyed by all, there was an interesting presentation by Vivi Lachs about her new book, Whitechapel Left to right: Michael Alpert, Daniel Gouly, Polina Shepherd, Suzi Evans, Vivi Lachs and Merlin Shepherd. (Photo by Doris Levinson) Notes, giving new perspectives on Jewish history via the poetry and song of Yiddish-speaking immigrants in London 1884 - 1914. She sang a few of the songs and there were others in the evening concert, including some from the former Yiddish music hall. The other teachers included Michael Alpert, Daniel Gouly and our own Polina and Merlin Shepherd, all of whom have impressive credentials in the world of the klezmer revival and Yiddish culture and song. As luck would have it, 10 June was a lovely sunny day and the sea was looking at its best. Between the workshop and the concert there was time for a stroll along the seafront and ticket holders were able to make use of the Brunswick pub bar and the outside seating area, where some chose to eat, at a discount, before the show. All the teachers were given a slot to perform in the concert and were enthusiastically received. New klezmer tunes, old ones and toe-tapping music, as well as traditional East End music hall stories and songs were on the menu. The audience was delighted and mesmerized. At the end all the performers came together on stage for a final klezmer jam – alas far too short as the concert absolutely had to finish at 11pm and for various reasons had started a bit late. It was good to see people from all age groups, both men and women, participating in this event and let’s hope it will be the first of many more to come. Klezmer South was organised by The Polina Shepherd Vocal Experience with the generous support of Rosy Armitage. ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 16 Culture 11 Our Cover Picture If you are in the Rehavia district of Jerusalem and you walk down Menachem Ussishkin road towards Bezalel road you will come to the junction with Mordechai Narkis street. Cross over that and within a few yards there is a street on the right called Menora, which has a few shops on it, including a locksmith’s which does a very healthy business in key cutting, and an Italian restaurant. Just past this there used to be a large car park which is now a building site surrounded by hoardings to keep curious on- lookers away and which provide a series of huge canvases for local artists. I say artists because the artwork that covers these temporary walls is quite stunning, including a portrait of the head of one of the local yeshivas. ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 We are appealing to you Or at least we hope we are Ralli Hall Lunch and Social Club wants:- You as a member You as a volunteer You as a supporter via our 100 club The Lunch and Social Club has been serving this community for over 17 years and needs your continued support. Please contact Jacquie on 01273 739999 or call in on a Tuesday or Thursday for a chat, we’d love to see you. Our picture shows the construction of a tall crane, the likes of which can be seen on building sites the world over but how do they get there? This one arrived as a flatpack on the back of a truck that was so large it completely took up the width of the street. A mobile crane slowly but surely hoisted the component parts into place and each part was bolted together on site. The picture shows the construction of the horizontal jib section with the mobile crane supporting the loose section as a man bolts it onto a fixed section. The inset photo gives you an idea of the working height. 12 BHHC Rabbi Hershel Rader Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, 31 New Church Road, Hove BN3 3AD Tel: 01273 888855 Email: office@bhhc-shul.org www.bhhc-shul.org 13 Self Awareness by Rabbi Hershel Rader How well do we really know people? We meet them socially The true measure of an individual is how he acts in a difficult and they seem so pleasant, so affable and so ...... nice. But or threatening situation, not in the comfort of a dinner party or how do those who encounter them in a different setting feel wedding celebration. Adversity exposes the real person. about them? What is the opinion of those who do business with them? What is the view of their employees? How do they act in a pressurised or challenging situation? The sidra of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat preceding Tisha B’Av. It is the first sidra of the book Deuteronomy. Encamped on the borders of the Promised Land, Moshe begins a review of the events which had taken place during the previous forty years. He recalls the incident of the spies he sent to reconnoitre the land and how they brought back a negative report which resulted in the Israelites spending nearly thirty-nine more years in the wilderness. How could these men, handpicked by Moshe, act in such a way? Didn’t Moshe choose good, righteous people for this important task? One explanation is that when the spies saw the land they felt threatened. They had enjoyed an idyllic existence in the wilderness with all their material needs catered for directly by On Tisha B’Av - the Fast of the Ninth of Av - we recall the horrors of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, as well as so many other tragedies which have befallen our people during the long years of exile. In the Talmudic narrative of the Roman siege of Jerusalem we encounter the great sage Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai who ensured the future of the Jewish people by saving the Torah centre of Yavneh from the Romans. The Emperor Vespasian granted him this seemingly insignificant seat of learning without realising that the continuity of the Jewish People depends on the continuity of Torah learning and observance. Before he died Rabbi Yochanan told his disciples ‘May you fear heaven as much as you fear people’. This visionary Rabbi understood human nature. He knew that we often act in one way before people but quite differently in private, when only G-d is our witness. G-d. They realised that once they entered the land this would The question I began with can be taken a step further - how come to an end. Confronted with what they regarded as a well do we know ourselves? How we deal with adversity and severely undesirable change they put their own concerns first how we act when there is no one there to witness our actions; and rebelled in a way that no one could have foreseen. these are the true measures of our humanity and integrity. Summer Annual Barbeque Tisha B’Av Times Shabbat 21st July Mincha at 8.35pm followed by Shiur Fast commences at 9.02pm Our Annual Summer Barbeque will take place this Maariv followed by Eichah at 10.06pm year on Sunday 2 September in the Shul grounds. Great food and atmosphere. Sunday 22nd July Adults - £17.50, children - £7.50. Shacharit and Kinnot at the later time of 9.00am Mincha at 8.10pm Book your place by contacting the Shul office on Tisha B’Av Video presentation 01273 888 855 or office@bhhc-shul.org. Bookings Maariv and fast ends at 9.43pm followed by Havdala must be made by Thursday 23 August. and light refreshments For your calendar Catered Lunch & Learn Shabbat Dinner Wednesday 11 July, 12.15 - 1.30 pm. The Dinner for Friday Night 6th July is SOLD OUT Just £7.50 for a fully catered, three course meal. Bookings are now being taken for Friday 3 August at Places are limited. All welcome. Bookings should be 8.00 pm. made via the Shul Office by ringing 01273 888 855 Just £10.00 for a fully catered, three course meal. or emailing office@bhhc-shul.org ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 12 HHC Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer Hove Hebrew Congregation, 79 Holland Road, Hove BN3 1JN Tel: 01273 732035 Email: hollandroadshul@btconnect.com 13 Web: www.hollandroadshul.com Rabbinical and Familial Travails by Rabbi Samuel de Beck Spitzer The Hebrew month of Av makes me very nostalgic for the city of Lisboa (Lisbon) Portugal, where I was previously the community Rabbi. It is a culmination and mix of many different tales combined with warm summer evenings that inflect the purely magical natural light that hits those cobbled stones. Personally, it is reminiscent of Jerusalem where, if one listens carefully enough, one can hear the scores of untold Jewish stories wafting through the air. Of course, I think that there are subconscious connotations of Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of ‘Av’ with Lisboa. Historically, it is the Hebrew date for the onset of the Spanish Inquisition (The precursor to the Portuguese Inquisition). These 15th Century Inquisitions deserve articles unto themselves, let alone tomes of historical accounts that have already been written, but suffice it to say that sitting low in the beautiful Esnoga (Synagogue) of Lisboa on that typically sweltering solemn day has left its indelible mark on my soul. My sense of saudades (an exclusively Portuguese term that really does not have an English equivalent), that blend of melancholia mixed with sentimental longing, has a much more personal source. My grandfather, the Baron Philip de Beck Spitzer, lived in Lisboa along with his mother Helena on ‘Rua de Ataide’ to be precise, a fifteen minute walk from the Esnoga in a palatial mansion named ‘Bella Vista’. They escaped the Nazis from a town called Lugos (which was then within Transylvania) and home to the maternal family ‘Beck’, having secured false identification papers, of which I still have copies. Incidentally, the family ‘Beck’ were a prominent Rabbinical family dynasty and the name seems to be an acronym for Beit Kodshim, a priestly lineage. Ironically, Salazar, the Portuguese wartime dictator, as well as allowing for the free transit of Nazis through to South America from his European shores, also allowed for the entry of a sizeable Jewish community of refugees from German controlled Europe. I was told of instances where Jews, having escaped their wartime horrors, would encounter their Nazi oppressors Do you have a spare 10 minutes once again on the quayside of the Lisbon marina awaiting passage to the New World. Hence, the current day unusual Jewish community blend of 19th century émigré families to help research into well-being in the Jewish community? from Morocco amidst post-war European refugees ... go figure! I also had the deep pleasure of meeting several remaining Yiddish speaking survivors of the ‘Shoa’ who spoke of my grandfather rather fondly; especially those of the female gender. Indeed, it was in Lisboa that he met my ISSUE 287 | JULY 2018 We are recruiting Jewish participants to complete a short survey about Jewish identity and psychological well-being, as part of a research project at the University of Sussex. grandmother, Tatyana, daughter of Prince Obolensky of Russia (one of the assassins of the supposed man of the The survey is accessible at https://bit.ly/2Jjhljb cloth, Rasputin the charlatan) who had escaped the Russian Participation is entirely voluntary and anonymous. Revolution as a baby with her mother of Polish origin to You will be asked questions about your religious and France, settling in the Loire. I remained extremely close to cultural identity, community engagement and life her until her passing in 2000. satisfaction. Today, my paternal grandfather, who died in 1984, lies Please contact Noemi Reiner on n.reiner@sussex.ac.uk alongside his mother in the Jewish cemetery in Lisboa and if you have any questions about this research, and how very ‘coincidental’ that I should have been officiating at burials only a few feet away from their resting place. Incidentally, the burial shrouds that are used in Lisboa are still hand made by female members of the community, as was the tradition. But before Philip’s soul was returned to his Creator, he played a significant role in the building of the State of Israel, in those formative years when letters were still hand-written and sent by boat. He donated handsomely to the creation of the Israel Museum, being a personal friend of Teddy Kollek the late Mayor of Jerusalem, built a centre for soldiers in Haifa and contributed a wing within the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. His ties to the Kennedys, the Shah of Iran and the global business community made him a significant advocate for the fledgling state, to say the least. As the Rabbi of Lisboa, I was in essence the Rabbi to the country and therefore gained much exposure to the Diplomatic/Ambassadorial Community. It proved to be an enriching stint and a steep personal learning curve. Unfortunately, the Community remains rather splintered and internally fractured, which I am sure local readers to Brighton & Hove will altogether relate to. Notwithstanding, Lisboa is a city of architectural beauty and mystery ... Jewish mystery no less. Many of you will probably be aware that it was only fairly recently (in fact, during my tenure there in 2015) that the Portuguese government, following in line with Spain, offered their citizenship to people who can prove their Portuguese ancestry. Of course, with Brexit on our doorstep this will undoubtedly be an incentive for those readers who stem from the Iberian Peninsula. But whether you hail from those parts or whether you stem from the Australian outback, be sure to pay a visit to the Portuguese Capital; perhaps it beckons for a cross-communal trip? I can personally assure you that you won’t regret it and I am glad to hear from reliable sources there, that my Rabbinical legacy lives on. do not hesitate to share the survey with your friends and family! 14 BHPS Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue, 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF Tel: 01273 737223 Email: info@bhps-online.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk 15 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue Twitter@BHPS2011 July: A time to Remember by Rabbi Elli Tikvah SarahWith July, summer begins in earnest – weather permitting, month of July in the 13th and 19th centuries respectively, we of course. This year, Tishah B’Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew can see how external socio-political realities impacted on month of Av, falls towards the end of July. Commemorating Jewish life. The mediaeval period was grim, and after more the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians than a century of persecution, on July 18, 1290, King Edward in 586 BCE and the destruction of the last Temple by the ‘the confessor’ signed the edict of expulsion of the Jewish Romans in 70 CE, Tishah B’Av is a day of mourning, marked community from England, which dictated that every last Jew by fasting. The other principal observance is the reading of had to leave by All Saints Day, November 1st. But that was m’gillat Eicah, the scroll of Lamentations, the biblical book not the end of the story. Oliver Cromwell instigated the revival that describes the havoc wreaked on Jerusalem and its of Jewish life in England by inviting the Jews of Holland to inhabitants by