Sweet finish to Montefiore tribute

A bygone treat — a lemon tart baked according to the recipe of Judith, Lady Montefiore — was served to 120 people at Lauderdale Road Synagogue, Maida Vale, including the Israeli Ambassador, the Chief Rabbi and the Earl of Balfour.

The historic dessert rounded off a dinner to celebrate two of British Jewry’s greatest supporters of Israel — Lady Montefiore’s husband, Sir Moses, the Victorian philanthropist, and Dr Moses Gaster, who led the Sephardic community as Haham from 1887 to 1918.

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‘Support our heritage sites’

As Culture Secretary Andy Burnham launched a £1.5 million scheme to part-fund heritage officers for historic places of worship, a warning was sounded over the Jewish community’s failure to support its many heritage sites.

Dr Sharman Kadish, director of Jewish Heritage — working to preserve more than 40 protected Jewish sites across the UK — was among guests at the English Heritage event in Manchester at which Mr Burnham announced the initiative.

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Women get a voice on Federation council

An Edgware Yeshurun congregant has become the first woman to speak at the Federation of Synagogues council.

Miriam Gitlin addressed the council after it finally agreed to permit women to attend and speak at its quarterly meetings — they are not allowed to vote. Sitting alongside Mrs Gitlin was Karen Dworkin, who was also elected recently by Edgware Yeshurun to join its seven male representatives. The Edgware shul has long campaigned for the Federation to more fully recognise the contribution of women.

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Caring tales promote £30k welfare appeal

Jewish Care hopes that two emotive accounts of people it has helped will encourage contributions to its Chanucah appeal, which has a £30,000 target.

A pack sent to potential donors features the story of Jack and Joan, who are both in their nineties. When Joan was diagnosed with dementia a year ago, Jack was unable to cope and turned to Jewish Care for help. They are now being looked after at the charity’s Kay Court home in Hampstead.

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Lead role in Israel for UK-trained guide dog

A golden labrador trained in the UK for the Israel Guide Dogs for the Blind Centre has “made aliyah”.

Minty was put on to an El Al plane at Heathrow by Gill Stoller, the Pinner Israel Action Group member who has taught and cared for her for the past year.

In Israel, she was handed over to her new handlers by fellow Pinner Synagogue member Hilary West, who had volunteered to oversee Minty’s transfer while on a trip to visit her daughter.

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Israelis find new market

Organisers of an Israeli street market which traded in Golders Green from Sunday to Tuesday say it was the perfect riposte to those advocating boycotts of Israeli goods.

Zionist Federation executive director Alan Aziz said a key aim of A Taste of Israel was to introduce the non-Jewish market to Israeli food, beauty products, arts and crafts and jewellery. “I overheard one person ask a stall-owner: ‘So what’s life really like in Israel?’ That’s fantastic. We want to promote Israel in a non-political way so people can see it as the great country it is.”

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Volunteers out for the holidays

Three hundred Jewish volunteers are expected to help out at care facilities and deliver food parcels over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Light up a Life scheme will be the second run by the Tikun charity, which reports that the response is double that of the inaugural year.
Volunteers will serve in soup kitchens and staff homeless centres. They will also visit residents at Jewish Care homes whose relatives may find it difficult to get to see them over the holiday period.

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Congestion charge ‘no’ brings relief

Manchester communal groups have expressed relief at the overwhelming no vote against a proposed local congestion charge.

If the plan had been supported, drivers would have been charged for travel between the major Jewish areas of Whitefield and Prestwich.
Welfare charity The Fed said its operations would have been severely affected. Head of services Mark Cunningham had feared a big increase in running costs.

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Light show with Boris

More than 3,000 people are expected in Trafalgar Square on Monday afternoon to see London Mayor Boris Johnson light a giant menorah.

To shed greater light on the proceedings, more than 1,000 torches will be distributed among the crowd and there will be jugglers, clowns, magicians and live music. The party starts at 4.30pm.

The 30-foot menorah will be lit on every night of the festival in a collaboration between the mayor’s office, the London Jewish Forum and Chabad.

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