JC articles

Israeli backpacker escapes jail over Chile forest fire

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:16:19 +0000

An Israeli backpacker has accepted a deal to pay £6,300 compensation to a Chilean environmental group after he was arrested for causing a devastating forest fire.

The money will be used to fund the purchase of 50,000 trees for the Chilean forestry agency to plant.

Rotem Singer, 23, was arrested at the start of January in connection with a forest fire at the Torres de Paine National Park, in southern Chile. The blaze caused severe damage to wildlife in the area.

Mr Singer was alleged to have accidentally started the fire by failing to extinguish a burning roll of toilet paper.

The charges could have meant a 60 day jail sentence, but Chilean prosecutors opted not to seek a conviction and ask for the money instead.

His mother said Mr Singer would not be returning straight home but planned to continue with his travels.

Faces and Places: 10th February 2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:32:52 +0000

Recipe: Upside-down pineapple cake

Fabienne Viner-Luzzato — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:30:34 +0000

The rum and pineapple combination in this retro-inspired cake is a classic one. It is extremely easy to make but looks impressive. If a pineapple ring should stay in the tin when you turn out the cake, simply pick it out and stick it back on. If you are making a parev version, then I find a diet margarine tastes better than Tomor. There should be enough pineapple juice in the tin to provide the 20ml you will need.

Ingredients

● 12 to 15 slices of tinned pineapple
● 175g caster sugar for the caramel
● 25g butter or margarine for the caramel
● 250g self-raising flour
● 3 large eggs, beaten
● 100g caster sugar for the cake
● Half a vanilla pod
● 100g butter or margarine
● 20ml of pineapple juice (from the tin)
● 1 small glass of rum

Method

● Preheat your oven 190°C (fan 180°C). Use a round tin of between 20 and 24 cm diameter. Preferably use non-stick, or if not, grease it.
● Lay whole slices of pineapple in a round flower pattern at the bottom of the tin and half slices upright around the sides of the tin. Fill in any gaps with smaller pieces.
● To prepare the caramel: put 175g of sugar and the 25g of butter or margarine in a pan and melt, stirring all the time. Cook the melted butter and sugar until it becomes a golden brown colour and smells of caramel. Do not let it burn. Pour the caramel over the pineapple slices.
● Scrape the seeds from inside the vanilla pod and put to one side. Mix the flour, the sugar and the 100g of melted butter or margarine in a large bowl. Add the vanilla seeds and eggs and mix until smooth. Stir in the pineapple juice and pour the mixture on top of the pineapple. Put in the oven for 40 minutes approximately.
● Turn the cake out on a serving plate when still fairly hot as the caramel will stick to the tin as it cools. Pour the rum all over the cake and serve when it is cooled down or at room temperature.

Recipe: Zesty gluten-free lemon and almond cake

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:28:14 +0000

Serves 10
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

● 175g softened butter
● 175g caster sugar
● 100g ground rice
● 1 tsp baking powder
● 175g ground almonds, sifted
● Zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
● ½ tsp vanilla extract
● 3 medium eggs

For the drizzle
● 2 unwaxed lemons, grated and freshly squeezed
● 50g icing sugar
● 2 tbsp water

Method

● Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a non-stick 20cm springform cake tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy then add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until blended. Do not over-beat.
● Add the ground rice, baking powder, ground almonds. Add the lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon and mix together until smooth.
● Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
● To make the syrup drizzle, place the lemon zest and juice in a small saucepan together with the icing sugar and water
● When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, then simmer for 3 minutes to reduce and thicken the syrup. Then pour the syrup through a sieve into a small bowl. Keep the zest as a garnish.
● When the cake is done, cool it on a wire rack for 5 minutes before loosening the tin and piercing all over with a fine skewer or tooth pick. Carefully spoon over the syrup.
● Leave for 20 minutes while the cake absorbs the syrup.
● Serve with crème fraiche.

Recipe: Banana, cardamom and pistachio bread

Victoria Prever — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:26:19 +0000

Cardamom and pistachio give a modern spin and a bit of crunch to the best way of using up spotty brown bananas. Ground cardamom can be bought online. For an even better flavour, extract and grind the seeds from 10 green cardamom pods using a spice grinder or pestle and mortar.

This is delicious served warm with butter, but equally good with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey.

Ingredients

● 250g plain flour
● 3 tsp baking powder
● ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
● 1 tsp ground cardamom
● Pinch of salt
● 90g softened butter
● 115g soft light brown sugar
● 2 medium eggs, beaten
● 100g finely chopped pistachio nuts
● 2 tbsp sour cream or Greek yoghurt
● 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (approximately 400g)
● Icing sugar, to dust (optional)

Method

● Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a loaf tin approx 21 x 11cm.
● Fold a long strip of baking parchment so it just fits the width of the tin and overhangs at both ends. It will work as a sling to lift out the loaf when it is cooked.
● Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cardamom and salt into a bowl.
● Cream the butter and sugar in a food mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the eggs one by one, beating until fully combined, then mix in the bananas.
● Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour. Reserve a tablespoon of pistachio nuts for garnish and then add the rest to the mixture with the yoghurt.
● Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake in the middle of the oven between 45 and 60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the loaf comes out clean.
● Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out to cool on a wire rack.
● Decorate with sifted icing sugar and the reserved pistachio nuts.

Recipe: Heavenly chocolate mousse cake

Sharon Lurie — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:24:15 +0000

This is absolutely divine, absolutely simple and absolutely geshmak.

Ingredients

● 125g butter or non-dairy margarine
● 250g sugar
● 3 eggs extra large
● 625g flour
● 45g cocoa powder
● 2 tsp instant coffee powder
● 250 ml milk or soya milk
● 2 tsp vanilla essence
● 3 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate sauce
● 150g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa)
● 2 cups boiling water

Method

● Preheat oven to 180°C
● Grease a round or rectangular (20 x 30cm) oven-dish or about 10 ramekins. Cream margarine and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and continue to beat.
● Sift the flour, cocoa and coffee. Add the vanilla essence to the milk. Add the dry and wet ingredients alternately to the mixture in three stages. Beat until well combined and smooth. Fold in the baking powder.
● Prepare your chocolate by dissolving it in boiling water.
● The cake mixture should only come halfway up the sides of the dish or dishes, as the melted chocolate sauce still has to be poured over before baking.
● Once the chocolate is completely melted, pour the liquid evenly over the batter and bake for 45 minutes.
● It will still look uncooked and soft on the top, but this is because it is a self-saucing cake . You won't be able to test this cake with a skewer as it will not come out clean.
● Serve either warm or at room temperature in the ramekins or onto plates from the tin, with vanilla ice cream or cream.

Recipe: Flirtatious little Cupid cupcakes

Clarissa Hyman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:21:39 +0000

Madame Maria Floris opened her legendary Soho bakery and patisserie in January 1939. The Hungarian sponge cakes, almond pastries and coffee cream gateaux are still recalled with awe, and she also famously supplied birthday cakes for Winston Churchill, one of which was a cake formed in a spiral decorated with 32 models of his famous hats.

Alas the bakery is no more, but the memory lingers on in the recipe for these cupcakes I have updated from a book Madame Floris wrote for the International Wine and Food Society in the 1960s.

Given their name, is it pure coincidence the shop was located but an arrow's flight from Piccadilly Circus?

Makes 8 cupcakes

Ingredients

● 100g butter
● 100g caster sugar
● 120g flour
● ½ tsp baking powder
● Pinch of salt
● 1 large egg, beaten
● Vanilla extract, to taste
● 50g finely chopped candied peel
● 1 tbsp brandy
● 150g icing sugar (plus vanilla extract or lemon juice)
● 4 glacé cherries

Method

● Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a cupcake tin with paper cases.
● Cream the butter and beat in the sugar.
● Sieve the flour with the baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed butter alternately with the egg.
● Add the candied peel, vanilla and brandy. If required, add a little warm water to form a mixture of "stiff dropping" consistency - it should take a little shake to remove it from a spoon.
● Half-fill paper cases with the mixture and bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool the cakes on a wire tray.
● Make the icing by adding a little water to the sugar. Flavour with either vanilla or lemon juice, and spoon over the cakes.
● Top each cake with half a cherry - or quarters to avoid maidenly blushes.

Joseph Roth: A Life In Letters

David Herman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:19:39 +0000

Michael Hofmann (Ed)
Granta, £25

'Half madman, half corpse" is how Joseph Roth described himself in 1936. He was in a terrible state: an alcoholic, in poor health, married to a chronic schizophrenic, a refugee, struggling to make a living. Three years later, he died of pneumonia, still only 44. But he had written more than a dozen novels, many short stories and thousands of articles, which established him as one of the great writers of the interwar years.

Never as famous as other German-speaking writers like Kafka and Thomas Mann, Roth disappeared without trace after his death until a handful of independent publishers and translators rediscovered him. The key figure is the poet and translator, Michael Hofmann, who has now produced this superb edition of Roth's letters, which follow his life from his late teens, on the eve of the First World War, to his death in Paris, just months before the Second.

Roth was born in Galicia, on the edges of eastern Europe, in 1894. Both parents were Jews but his father disappeared and died, insane, when Roth was 16. Soon after, what Hofmann calls Roth's "westward trajectory" began, taking him to Vienna and, after the First World War, to Berlin, where he established himself as a journalist, and then Paris. During the 1920s and early '30s he was one of the best-paid journalists in Europe. In the mid-1920s he started his career as a prolific novelist. He spent his life on the move. Perhaps his only permanent home was the German language and even that was thwarted when it became impossible to be published in Germany and then Austria.

Two devastating blows dominate the book. First, the illness then institutionalisation of his wife in the late 1920s. Then, in 1933, the rise of Hitler. From the beginning, Roth had no illusions about Nazism. He left Germany the day Hitler became Chancellor and never returned. "We are heading for a great catastrophe," he wrote to his friend and patron Stefan Zweig in February 1933, "The barbarians have taken over. Do not deceive yourself. Hell reigns."

What is curious is how uninterested he was in the big picture. He never attempted any kind of analysis of Nazism. On the other hand, he had a visceral loathing for it and knew that something terrible was happening to Europe. He was also distracted - by his own worsening health, his desperate battle against poverty, his need to write, and, above all, by his astonishing, almost monstrous, egomania. The day after the Reichstag fire, he quickly moves on to the really important subject: himself.

Roth died of alcoholism in 1939, his schizophrenic wife was murdered by the Nazis in 1940 and Zweig committed suicide in 1942. But his papers were rescued in Paris and later brought to New York. Now, brilliantly put together, full of illuminating editorial material, Joseph Roth's letters give us great insight into one of the outstanding writers of the 20th century and to the terrible times he lived through.

Review: Hope: A Tragedy

Alan Montague — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:18:08 +0000

Shalom Auslander
Picador, £16.99

Shalom Auslander's surname means "foreigner" in German, or "outsider". And that is certainly what he seems - a Jewish outsider alienated even from other Jews.

In his 2008 memoir, Foreskin's Lament, he described how he was damaged by his strictly Orthodox upbringing in Monsey, New York. Now, in his debut novel, he brings his outsider perspective to bear on the Holocaust, to examine whether anything more than the deepest despair is possible 70 years after the murder of the six million.

Auslander deploys a bleakly ironic and, at times, shocking humour that challenges the Jewish obsession with past misery. As his hero, Solomon Kugel, says: "Never forgetting is not the same as never shutting up about it."

This, of course, is a dangerous game. Many people won't get the joke, or see the serious intent behind the humour. They will be offended by the fun poked at figures such as Elie Wiesel and Alan Dershowitz, and insulted by irreverent references to gas chambers.

Most of all, they will be appalled by the resurrection as an ill-tempered, manipulative crone of the one Holocaust victim who most symbolises Jewish suffering. And they would be right to be appalled if the book wasn't funny - but it is. Laugh-out-loud funny.

Kugel is a thirtysomething salesman who decides to "begin again" after his sickly young son, Jonah, recovers from a serious illness. He moves with Jonah and wife Bree from Brooklyn to the rural safety of upstate New York.

But his attempt to escape the past is doomed, not least because his mother comes too. She has been traumatised by her experience as a survivor; except that experience - deportation, cattle trucks, Auschwitz, the lot- is a complete fiction, invented to compensate for her failed marriage to Kugel's father.

The closest she got was a sightseeing visit to Sachsenhausen, accompanied by an unwell Kugel. His frequent trips to the toilet meant they had less time to pose for photos at the ovens. "You ruined the whole concentration camp for me," she complained.

Worse, Kugel has bought a 200-year-old converted barn where, hiding in the attic, is the aforementioned crone, an unwanted reminder of genocide.

Kugel spends a lot of time wondering whether he should evict her or not - he imagines the potential newspaper headlines: "Six million plus one", "Jew acts like Nazi". He spends even more time debating the hope vs despair question, to the detriment of his marriage, his career and, eventually, his sanity.

His therapist, Professor Jove, is firmly in the despair camp - it is the only rational response to a world that resembles, if not actually is, hell. By contrast, Kugel's sister comforts herself with the thought that everything happens for a reason, while for Bree, the answer is simple - of course kick out the crone, we don't want our son blighted by all that affliction.

By the end, with Kugel's life having fallen apart, hope does indeed appear to be a delusion, one we are condemned to believe in over and over again, if only because the alternative is unbearable.

Hope: A Tragedy is a funny, serious book that will make some people angry, and a lot more people laugh. At least, one can only hope so.

Israelis: no attack on Iran until after Madonna gig

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:14:14 +0000

Israeli fans of Madonna have appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone action against Iran until after her Tel Aviv concert.

Fans of the singer, who announced this week that she will open her global tour with a show in Israel, launched a campaign on Facebook.

They are asking the Israeli Prime Minister to say "no to war with Iran" until after the May 29 gig.

On of the creators of the page said the page was intended to be pro-peace and was meant in jest.

"We love Madonna, and it's just our humorous way of dealing with not so humorous life in the Middle East," they said. "We send our neighbors in Iran a message of unity, and hope Madonna will grace their country with a visit on her upcoming tour."

God is more than a vote winner

Elizabeth Hunter — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:55:14 +0000

Sixty years have passed since Gandhi said: "those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is". Yet many of those most interested in politics still do not know. Much has changed since Alastair Campbell stated: "we don't do God" but politicians still don't "do God" very well.

The three main parties have patchy records in dealing with religious groups. Part of this comes from the misconception that all religious traditions should be treated as essentially the same thing. They emphasise the social utility of religion. What matters is that religious people have "values".

Mitzvah Day is the most recent example, taking the Prime Minister's Big Society award in 2011. Tony Blair said of Jewish Care that it "is not just Jewish values in action; it is actually the best of British values in action."

Praising "values" isn't quite the equivalent of a politician having a photo taken with a baby but it's safe territory - politicians can speak warmly of a faith community without the risk of being associated with contentious views.

"Values" are all well and good but the emphasis on them can become a way of papering over cracks between government and faith groups. The state does not fit the liberal dream of a neutral referee; over time, some views prevail. The social liberalism that reached its zenith under New Labour in many ways acted against the sense of community, solidarity and values that constitute religious traditions.

Whatever one thinks of equalities legislation, there is no doubt that religious communities fear it undermines the extent to which they can act in keeping with their "ethos".

It is an irony that, after 14 years under a party whose history is deeply enmeshed with religious traditions, some religious people are no longer sure that they are permitted to "be themselves" in public.

Ostensibly, the Liberal Democrats are the most openly secular party, due in part to the alliance between the Liberal Party and non-conformist Christian groups.

Yet this has changed over time, and there is a difference between, say, the desire to banish bishops from the House of Lords because one religious tradition shouldn't be privileged, and demanding their removal because religious voices are inherently illegitimate.

Some would argue that the Conservatives retain a more intuitive understanding of faith communities, because they see civil society more clearly.

Leaders like the Chief Rabbi have offered qualified support for the Big Society, emphasising that it already exists in churches, synagogues and mosques. But the Archbishop of Canterbury has refrained from giving it a full three cheers, and it's too early to see whether the warm rhetoric of the Big Society will result in warm relationships.

The future of the relationships between religious groups and the government remains to be seen. The social utility of people of faith will continue to be key for policy makers. Occasionally, politicians with a deeper understanding come along, but they are rare.

All the more reason, then, for politicians to be presented with the facts around important issues such as faith in schools, faith-based welfare provision, and religious freedom in a way that they can understand. Religious people are a significant force in society. It's key to help our leaders "do God" better.

The Auschwitz papers could reveal a hidden Shoah story

Martin Bright — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:54:01 +0000

Over the past three weeks the JC has been running a campaign to open the files held by the Ministry of Defence and the National Archives about British prisoners of war held at Auschwitz. To their credit, ministers have reacted quickly to pressure from MPs and offered to help in any way they can.

The campaign was sparked by the discovery that Yitzhak Persky, the father of Israeli President Shimon Peres, was held at Camp E715, as the British camp at Auschwitz was known.

But beyond this extraordinary tale of one man's survival, there is a broader story that needs to be told.

As many as 1,400 British prisoners arrived at Auschwitz towards the end of 1943 and hundreds were forced to work at the IG Farben chemical factory. Each one of these men was a witness to the Shoah. Their story has never fully been told, nor has the British government paid full tribute to the dignity and humanity these men demonstrated in helping the Jewish inmates in the camp next door.

In mid-1944, the POW camp was moved directly adjacent to the plant and was therefore in direct view of Auschwitz III (Buna-Monowitz). British prisoners therefore witnessed the routine brutality meted out to the Jewish slave labourers including those hanged from the gates of the camp as an example to others. At times the "kriegies", as the POWs were known, and the "stripies", as they called the Jewish prisoners, worked together, formed friendships and exchanged information. Thus it was that the British soldiers discovered the source of the sickly-sweet burning smell that hung over the camp.

Detailed research carried out into E715 by the American academic Joseph Robert White for the Centre for Advanced Holocaust Studies shows the British POWs in a genuinely positive light. Their response to incarceration was not to identify with their captors and turn a blind eye to the mistreatment of their fellow human beings, but to help where they could with clothing, food and information.

Over the 65 years since the camps were liberated there have been many attempts to tell the story of the British prisoners of war at Auschwitz. The latest of these, The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz, by former POW Denis Avey, has become a bestseller.

And yet, several important questions remain unanswered.

For instance, what role did Yitzhak Persky play in helping the head of the British camp, Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, facilitate the escape of Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz? What happened to the coded letters sent by Mr Coward to the War Office warning of the atrocities being carried out against the Jewish people? And is it possible that the British prisoners made contact with the Polish underground in the towns and villages surrounding the camp, even, as some accounts suggest, smuggling explosives and weapons into the camp?

The story of E715 has the capacity to transform our understanding of the Holocaust in this country. We are rightly proud of the stand Britain took against fascism. But we do not know how we would have fared under occupation. The dignity and humanity shown by the men of E715 at least suggests that we would not have simply rolled over. It should be given greater prominence in the national narrative.

Norbert Wollheim, a Jewish prisoner at Monowitz who famously sued IG Farben for compensation in the 1950s, said: "England can be very, very proud of these men... who really proved that even in Auschwitz... humanity could prevail." He recognised that the British POWs "extended the... hand of solidarity of man" to the inmates of Auschwitz III.

The Yitzhak Persky story also raises the issue of British Jewish POWs. German documents held by the Wiener Library show that in December 1943 there were 772 Jewish soldiers out of the 10,537 British prisoners held at the giant Stalag VIIIB at Teschen . What was life in captivity like for these men? Where are their testimonies? A previously unseen letter in the files demands an investigation into the shooting of Krauze and Eisenberg, two British Jewish prisoners of war.

Before it is too late, we should pay tribute to both these groups of men: the British POWs from E715 Auschwitz and Jewish servicemen who spent time in German POW camps. We have a duty to honour their courage and deepen our understanding of the unprecedented horrors they witnessed.

JC MSFL Hat-trick heroes

Danny Caro — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:45:23 +0000

The race for the JC Golden Boot looks set for a thrilling finish. Here we look at which players have scored the most hat-tricks in JC MSFL league and cup competitions this season.

4
Saul Conway (Shirley Park)

3
Doron Weinstein (Redbridge JC B)

2
Glenn Michaels (Chigwell Athletic)
Dan Orgel (Redbridge JC B)
Dan Lipman (Glenthorne Utd A)
Josh Green (Norstar 1 for A and 1 for B)
Fabio Revieccio (Glenthorne B)
Dan Hildebrand (one for Faithfold B and 1 for Brady B)
Reiss Mogilner (Brady B)
Ben Hart (North London Raiders C)

1
Shai Davidi (FC Team A)
Danny Kon (Hendon A)
Ari Last (Hendon A)
Alex Bowman (LM Lions A)
Josh Kennet (Redbridge JC A)
Jerome Marks (Woodford)
Ben Rosenblatt (Southgate Harmen B)
Doron Hershkorn (Southgate Harmen B)
Mitch Hahn (Woodford)
Richard Silver (Camden)
Raph Noe (Hendon B)
Paul Biller (Glenthorne United A)
Joey Lazare (LM Lions B)
Ben Simons (Faithfold C)
Jamie Sinai (Catford & Bromley)
Richard Rosenthal (Glenthorne Utd B)
Craig Sandford (Glenthorne Utd B)
Joel Kutner (Los Blancos)
Adam Hersh (Los Blancos)
Joel Kanutin (NW Neasden C)
Adam Levene (NW Neasden C)
Louis Taylor (both NW Neasden C)
Stefan Benfredj (Shirley Park)
Gideon Gold (Shirley Park)
Assi Avital (UJIA)
Edward Green (Athletic Bilbaum)
Julius Judah (Athletic Bilbaum)
Daniel Goodman (Athletico Finchley)
Ben Mandell (Athletic Finchley)
Amit Dinowitz (Athletico Finchley)
Jamie Weinrich (Boca Jewniors)
James Joseph (Brady B)
Jamie Kent (Brixton B)
Ashley Burns (SPEC FC)
Terry Jeffries (Temple Fortune B)
Joey Glynne (Temple Fortune B)

Dementia care unit opening

Jonathan Kalmus — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:55:53 +0000

A £1 million dementia care wing has been opened at the Donisthorpe home in Leeds, its second unit catering for a rising number of dementia sufferers. Features of the 15-bed facility include floor sensors which automatically turn on lights.

Donisthorpe's original dementia unit, the 21-bed Woodlands, opened in 2009. The new facility, formerly a nursing wing, has been named in honour of former chairman, Geoffrey Caplan, who has worked on the project with chief executive Carol Whitehead over the past 18 months. It will be the last major investment at the home for the time being after it experienced a second round of council funding cuts.

Dementia residents will now account for 20 per cent of the home's 183 places.

Ms Whitehead said demand for dementia care had increased in line with national trends. "This facility will provide specialist care in a sympathetic environment. It is intended not only to assist residents but also families at what can be a very difficult and demanding time."

Manchester scheme proves just the job

Jonathan Kalmus — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:55:37 +0000

Companies are being offered free workers for three months under a scheme to tackle rising unemployment among Manchester Jewry.

JCom, the city's Jewish employment agency, is now helping 164 jobseekers, a rise of two-thirds in nine months.

The agency - which gained government accreditation in November - specialises in getting observant Jews into the job market, negotiating with employers about Shabbat and festival leave.

Through its new partnership with Salford City Council, employers will receive council funding for three months' wages - or up to £2,800 - for a candidate taken on through JCom. It is part of a 140-place employment scheme, set up in the wake of the Coalition's abolition of the Future Jobs Fund programme. The scheme was only previously available through Job Centres, but JCom has been given authority to select candidates for funding to help deal with its increasing number of clients.

JCom's Isaac Ginsbury said its success would depend on more companies coming forward with job vacancies.

"The employment situation is getting worse. Having JCom facilitating the service means the community feels reassured that the services and schemes will be suitable for them."

Council leader John Merry said that working with JCom would bring about "tailored employment support to the community over and above the original Future Jobs Fund".

Orthodox sales pitch entices homebuyers

Jonathan Kalmus — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:55:19 +0000

Succah roofs, kosher kitchens and Israeli-style handwashing basins are features of an 80-unit housing development, for which a planning application is under consideration by Salford City Council.

The application by Countryside Properties has found favour with Salford's strictly Orthodox population.

Suggestions by community members for dining and living spaces suitable for large family gatherings have also been incorporated into the design after Countryside's consultations with local residents.

The three, four and six bedroom properties would replace dilapidated terraced housing and help to relieve a housing crisis among the area's large Jewish community.

There were fears over the lack of housing for low income families after affordable units were omitted from Countryside's application. In a memorandum, the council rejected the developer's argument that affordable housing policy did not apply to the development, but recognised that "opportunities for affordable housing provision through planning gain may be limited".

However, Countryside maintains that it has been working towards making 28 of the properties affordable units and discussions are said to be under way with a Jewish housing association.

Countryside's Ian Simpson said the developer was pleased "with the broadly positive response from the community and the levels of interest to purchase.

"We are currently in discussions with Salford City Council with regards to the provision of affordable housing."

US Marines posed with 'SS insignia' flag

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:30:38 +0000

Members of the US Marine Corp have been criticised after a photograph surfaced of them posing with a flag that "adopted the SS insignia".

Ten Marines, who were serving in Afghanistan, were pictured next to a flag bearing "a Nazi-related symbol", as well as a US flag. The photo was said to have been taken in September 2010 but was not brought to the unit's attention until late last year.

A spokesman for the Marines said that the sniper team had been given a warning as a result, although they had not been punished.

"The incident was found not to be racially motivated," he said. "Those involved acknowledged that the symbol could be misinterpreted and is not in keeping with our Marine Corps ethos and values."

Both the Washington-based Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre called for President Obama to conduct a full investigation into this "complete and total outrage outrage".

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Los Angeles based Wiesenthal Centre, said that the actions of the marines "desecrated the memory of some 200,000 Americans who gave up their lives to defend freedom against that infamous symbol".

"The SS units bore the principal responsibility for carrying out Hitler's Final Solution, which led to the extermination of six million Jews. In addition, members of the SS murdered unarmed American POWs."

He added that it was clear that "younger generations entering the US military need to be better educated about the lessons of the Holocaust."

Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, added: "The troops who posed in front of this Nazi SS flag obviously had no idea what it truly symbolised.

"There is a need...for our troops to be sensitised to the meaning of such symbols and the general nature of hate."

School cancels 'terror charity' event

Marcus Dysch — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:47:04 +0000

A school-based charity event organised by a group with links to Hamas has been cancelled following consultation with anti-extremism experts from the Department for Education.

Human Appeal International was expected to run a women-only social evening at Parrs Wood High School, a specialist technology college in Didsbury, south Manchester, on February 18.

HAI claims to work with the victims of "poverty, social injustice and natural disasters" in 27 countries, including the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan and Iraq.

But it is also on the US State Department's list of charities linked to terrorism.

Parrs Wood had received complaints from representatives of Manchester's Jewish community and pro-Israel activists about its renting of a room to the group.

Concerns had also been raised with the DfE and a department spokesman confirmed earlier this week that experts from its preventing extremism unit had spoken to headmaster Andrew Shakos to remind him of impartiality guidelines.

It is understood that following the discussions the school took the decision to cancel the event. Mr Shakos and governors are also thought to have ruled that no charities with political links will in future be able to rent rooms at Parrs Wood.

A message posted on Human Action International's Facebook page this morning confirmed the event had been "postponed".

HAI previously hosted a "Day for Gaza" fundraising event at Parrs Wood, close to its UK office in nearby Fallowfield, in 2009.

In 2003, the FBI said HAI had a "close relationship" with Hamas. Two years later, it was named by Israeli authorities as one of a number of organisations that had diverted donations to fund terror and support the families of suicide bombers.

Labour councillor on Holocaust education trip that Aidan Burley joined

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:40:01 +0000

The teacher whose pupils complained that Conservative MP Aidan Burley was "disrespectful" during a talk by a Holocaust survivor is also a Labour councilor.

Dr Suzannah Reeves has been named as the staff member who identified Mr Burley as the MP who joined the pupils at a talk by an Auschwitz survivor in Poland.

Dr Reeves is a Labour councillor for Old Moat in Manchester, as well as being a history and politics teacher at Oldham Sixth Form College.

According to Politics Home, she was one of the people in charge of the group that Mr Burley joined for the talk earlier this week.

Mr Burley, the MP for Cannock Chase, was on a privately organised trip with Dr James Smith of the Beth Shalom Holocaust centre.

Last year he was sacked as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, after being filmed at a "Nazi-themed" stag party, where guest donned SS uniform and toasted the Third Reich.

Dr Reeves' pupils sparked controversy over the visit after tweeting that the Mp was "texting and dozing" during the talk. A Conservative Party friend of Mr Burley has denied that he was dozing but admitted that he may have checked his phone during the talk.

Dr Reeves has been in the news this week because she is chair of governors at Parrs Wood High School, which was due to host an event organised by a charity linked to Hamas.

Labour councillor on Holocaust education trip that Aidan Burley joined

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:40:01 +0000

The teacher whose pupils complained that Conservative MP Aidan Burley was "disrespectful" during a talk by a Holocaust survivor is also a Labour councilor.

Dr Suzannah Reeves has been named as the staff member who identified Mr Burley as the MP who joined the pupils at a talk by an Auschwitz survivor in Poland.

Dr Reeves is a Labour councillor for Old Moat in Manchester, as well as being a history and politics teacher at Oldham Sixth Form College.

According to Politics Home, she was one of the people in charge of the group that Mr Burley joined for the talk earlier this week.

Mr Burley, the MP for Cannock Chase, was on a privately organised trip with Dr James Smith of the Beth Shalom Holocaust centre.

Dr Reeves has been in the news this week because she is chair of governors at Parrs Wood High School, which was due to host an event organised by a charity linked to Hamas.

The Torah Revolution – Fourteen Truths that Changed the World

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:24:16 +0000

Jewish Lights, $24.99

The Rights of "Strangers"

The influence of the ideal of the equality of all humans can be felt in the laws of the Torah found in the last four books, Exodus through Deuteronomy, even though the laws therein are intended for the people of Israel alone. They envision Israel living in its own land-the Land of Israel, formerly Canaan, that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-and form the constitution of the new state of the Israelites.

Nevertheless, the Torah makes provision for non-Israelites who will be dwelling there, grants them many rights, and cautions the Israelites concerning their treatment. These people are known as gerim, "strangers," or literally "dwellers." It is a term that Abraham had used to describe himself in relation to those who lived in the land to which he had come. "I am a ger and a resident among you," he said and then asked for permission to buy land (Gen. 23:4). Although there is no explicit ruling in the Torah prohibiting the resident stranger from owning land, most scholars assume that this was the case.

The exilic prophet Ezekiel states that when the people of Israel return to the land and divide it among the tribes, "You shall allot it as a heritage for yourselves and for the strangers who reside among you, who have begotten children among you. You shall treat them as Israelite citizens; they shall receive allotments along with you among the tribes of Israel" (Ezek. 47:22). Certainly, this was an innovation; in the original division of the land among the tribes, there is no such provision for a "stranger," but this innovation is very much in the spirit of the Torah's revolutionary concept of human equality.

Similarly, there is no specific prohibition in the Torah against selling land to a non-Israelite; such prohibitions were enacted in Jewish law against idolaters at a later period, when Jewish independence was no more and Jews did not control the land. Within Jewish law, there were different opinions as to who was prohibited from owning land and, in general, who was referred to whenever the laws spoke of "idolaters." Although some sages took it as referring to all non-Jews, others restricted it literally to those who worshipped idols.

The most liberal position on this question was taken by a thirteenth-century rabbi from Provence, Menachem Hameiri, who held that any such prohibitions applied only to the seven Canaanite nations who no longer existed and certainly not to people who were "guided by religious norms," which included both Christians and Muslims. (footnote 1) Although there may be harsh statements against non-Jews found in the vast works of Jewish tradition, these reflect the agony and suffering of Jews under their oppressors at various times in Jewish history and as such are understandable. Such harsh words, however, "did not thereby become Jewish religious teachings and are not to be considered as an authoritative statement of Judaism." (2)

Rabbi Haim Hirschensohn, an early twentieth-century Orthodox Zionist thinker, taught that the Torah is democratic in viewing all citizens as equal before the law, including the Jew and the stranger-the non-Jew-in their midst. As paraphrased by the philosopher Eliezer Shweid, "In principle, Hirschensohn insists, the Torah advocates complete social, political and moral equality between Jews and Gentiles, in the sense that any demand based on human morality applies equally to all.… The differences in religious and ritual considerations do not in the slightest impinge on the full equality between Jew and Gentile in the eyes of the Torah." (3)

As Jacob Lauterbach puts it, "For we are mindful of the fundamental principles of our religion, that we all have one Father in heaven and that every human being is made in the image of the Father and that we sin against God if we harm any man." (4)

Common Ancestry in Rabbinic Judaism and Beyond

Rabbinic Judaism went far in developing and emphasizing this concept. A late midrash expresses the idea that all are equal in the sight of God: "I call heaven and earth to witness, that whether one be Gentile or Jew, man or woman, slave or handmaid, the Holy Spirit will rest upon them according to their deeds!" (5) As we have already pointed out, the Sages used the Torah's creation story to indicate that we all have one common ancestry. The early sage Hillel taught that we should be like Aaron, "loving all those created [by God] and bringing them closer to the Torah" (Pirkei Avot 1:12).

Hillel does not say "loving Israelites" but "loving all those created," which specifically includes non-Jews. Rabbi Akiba well understood the meaning of this and taught, "Beloved is the human being, for he was created in the image of God. The human being is exceedingly beloved in that it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God" (Pirkei Avot 3:18). Hillel's contemporary, Shammai, taught that one was to greet "every human being with a cheerful face" (Pirkei Avot 1:15).

In an interesting discussion between Akiba and Ben Azzai on the question of which verse of the Torah is the basic verse on which everything else depends, Akiba suggests, "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). Ben Azzai objects, contending that "this is the record of the begettings of humankind. At the time of God's creating humankind, in the likeness of God did He make it" (Gen. 5:1) was an even greater verse. (6) Although Ben Azzai does not explain himself, we may assume that he felt that "your neighbour" could be understood to mean your fellow Israelite alone, whereas Genesis 5:1 speaks of all humanity as being in God's likeness and would therefore apply the Torah's ethical principles and concern to them all.

The eighteenth-century mystic Pinhas Eliah Hurwitz reinterprets the verse from Leviticus that Akiba chose to apply to all human beings:

The essence of neighborly love consists in loving all mankind, all who walk on two legs, of whatever people and whatever tongue, by virtue of their identical humanity…. The meaning of the verse "You shall love your neighbor as yourself " is not confined to Jews only, but the sense is "your neighbor who is a human being as yourself"-people of all nations are included, any fellow humans. (7)

Perhaps that was the way that Akiba had understood it. Walt Whitman, the nineteenth-century poet of America and American ideals, expresses much the same idea in the opening verses of his Leaves of Grass:

I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume;
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to
you.…
In all people I see myself-none more, and not one a
barleycorn less,
And the good or bad I say of myself, I say of them.

At the conclusion of the Second World War, Henry Alonzo Myers of Cornell University wrote a book titled Are Men Equal? He viewed that war as the ultimate struggle between Jefferson's ideal of the equality of men and Hitler's ideal of the inequality of men. Myers acknowledges that this doctrine was much older than Jefferson, having been stated in theTorah thousands of years earlier: "From beginning to end the Bible teaches the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. The story of the creation of Adam and Eve, the parents of all men, is the first lesson." (8)

Because of the importance of that struggle, Myers attempts to strengthen the grounds for the belief in human equality:

The lessons of history are clear enough. The doctrine of superiority has always been, even in its noblest forms, a means of dividing men, of setting one class or one people over others and against others. The proposition of equality, on the other hand, by its very nature implies the unity of men. Already a giant force in world politics, it will in time prevail over armed force-if men believe it to be true. (9)

It is ironic that the Torah's concept of human equality was so well expressed in German in the words of Friedrich von Schiller, which were later immortalized and sung so gloriously in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony: "Alle menchen weirden bruder"-"All humans shall be brothers." Had these words been taken to heart in twentieth-century Germany, the great tragedy of that time would have been averted.

1. Beit HaBechirah, Avodah Zarah 20.
2. Jacob Lauterbach, "The Attitude of the Jew toward the Non-Jew", Central Conference of American Rabbis Yearbook 31, 1921: p 185
3. Eliezer Schweid, Democracy and Halakhah (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002), 66.
4. Lauterbach, "Attitude," 222.
5. Tanna d'vei Eliyahu 9.
6. Sifra, Kedoshim 4.
7. Sefer HaBerit, cited by Greenberg, Studies, 387. Notes 197
8. Henry Alonzo Myers, Are Men Equal? An Inquiry into the Meaning of American Democracy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1945), 35.
9. Ibid., 16.

Scott beats the Scots

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:41:21 +0000

Scott Spurling got his England Under 20 career off to a winning start in the 59-3 victory over Scotland in the under-20 Six Nations.

The Saracens hooker came off the bench to play the last 12 minues for last season's grand slam winners at Firhill in Glasgow.

"It was not really a big step up from Saracens, Spurling said, "but it was a good, fast-paced match. We'll continue taking it game by game."

Having spent the first half of the week at England's training base in Guildford, the 18-year-old from Edgware flew out with his England teammates to Italy on Wednesday.

He will make his first start for the Under 20 team in England's second match against Italy in Rovigo.

Superbowl success was a special day, says Tisch

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:37:14 +0000

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch described his team's Superbowl 46 victory as "a special day" after the 17-14 victory over New England Patriots 17-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis.

The 62-year-old businessman and film producer, who runs the club along with John Mara, was close to tears after quarterback Eli Manning set up Ahmad Bradshaw for a dramatic last minute touchdown.

"So many people thought we couldn't do this," Tisch said. “They thought we were done, we couldn’t get here and we couldn’t win. But here we are and we did it.

"It is a great triumph for this time and this group of players to be able to stand up and say they carried on believing, carried on fighting and came out on top. This is a special day and this is a special team."

Having led the Giants to success at four years ago, Tisch rewrote the history boos as the only man to have won the Superbowl and won an oscar - he was one of the producers of Forrest Gump, which won Best Picture of 1994.

A superstitious Tisch watched the match with all of his toenails painted red or blue, courtesy of his daughters, Elizabeth and Holden.

"If this is how it is going to work out then maybe I should wear it all the time," Tisch said. "I was going to get rid of it but my daughters thought it was funny and then we just kept winning.

"One foot is red and one is blue. Each of my daughters did one foot. Of course, all the credit for this has to go to our players, coaches and fans."

'Nazi' stag Tory 'disrespectful' during Holocaust survivor talk

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:22:50 +0000

Aidan Burley, who was sacked from his junior government role last year after attending a Nazi-themed stag party, has become embroiled in a row over his "conduct" while listening to a Holocaust survivor.

Mr Burley, the MP for Cannock Chase, was part of a two day private visit to Auschwitz and other sites in Krakow with Dr James Smith, founder of the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire.

An onlooker has accused Mr Burley of "texting and dozing" during the concentration camp survivor's talk.

Matthew Perkins, a student on a history trip that Mr Burley joined for the talk, said: "He was in the speech with us and he was blatantly disrespectful throughout

The allegation, first made on Twitter, was then raised in a commons Business Questions session by Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley, who said it was time "the government sorted this whole affair out by publishing the outcome of the inquiry and organising a debate on the investigation."

But according to a friend in the Conservative Party, Mr Burley "did not doze off once" but behaved "completely respectfully and found the visit moving".

The friend admitted that Mr Burley may have "briefly answered an urgent message from London". He said it was not surprising that Mr Burley had left his phone on "because you never know what you might have respond to."

The friend also claimed that other participants were "aggressive" toward Mr Burley during the trip. "When they arrived at Auschwitz there was an English group there and one person realised who Mr Burley was. They behaved quite aggressively before the lecture. The impression was that they were looking for trouble."

He said it was sad that people were "trying to make political capital out of what was a very solemn and moving two days for Aidan."

Sir George Young said it Mr Burley's actions were not a matter for the government to look into but should be handled by the Conservative party.

Mr Austin, whose adoptive father escaped to Britain from Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Holocaust, said: "The students have suggested that he did not take the lecture as seriously as he should have."

The 32 year old, who was elected at the last general election, was filmed at an event in the ski resort of Val Thorens where one guest donned an SS uniform and others allegedly toasted the Third Reich and chanted the names of senior Nazis.

The Prime Minister sacked him as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Transport Secretary Justine Greening and asked for a fuller investigation of the matter.

French police have opened an enquiry into the event, on the grounds that it is a criminal offence in France to wear or exhibit Nazi uniforms and insignia.

Mr Burley has not yet responded to a request to comment.

Dr Smith said that Mr Burley's actions were being blown out proportion and called for "perspective".

"I was sitting next to him and though I was concentrating on the survivor's talk, not Aidan, if he were asleep as has been said, I am sure I would have noticed," he said.

He emphasised that the trip was paid for by Mr Burley and was not intended as "a media gimmick, but rather it was to be a meaningful learning experience".

"This was not an isolated trip. Aidan planned to visit The Holocaust Centre to meet with survivors and observe educational programmes about the Holocaust," he added.

"I don't minimize the stag night whatsoever and take the Holocaust extremely seriously."

PB for Josh

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Josh Newman recorded a personal best on his way to gold at the national trampolining championships in Hatfield.

Newman, 13, raised the bar by achieving three PBs and claimed an unprecedented nine full marks from the judges to qualify for the under-15 national finals in Birmingham in July.

He also looks set to represent GB at the European championships in St Petersburg in April.

An excellent performance saw Newman achieve higher routine scores than the senior men's winner.

A member of the super-elite national development squad, Newman will take part in a GB training camp in Dorset this weekend.

Table turns

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:59 +0000

Plans have been announced to run a first-ever national shul table-tennis league and knock-out championship starting in March.

Organised in association with Maccabi GB, the competition will feature an under-17 and an open event, with players of all standards welcome.

The league aims to support the many shul members who play table tennis and encourage more to take part in the sport, and interact with people from across the community.

Both the championship and league will be sponsored by Maccabi GB, as part of its Sports For Everyone initiative, timed to coincide with the year of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Co-founder Adam Black said: "There used to be local Jewish leagues all over the UK. Now for the first time we're running a national one.

"It's a great chance for the community to get together in a completely new way."

The first event will take place at Batts, Harlow, Essex on March 11.

Amos: The hard work starts now

Simon Griver — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:59 +0000

Hapoel Kiryat Shmona keeper Danny Amos has urged his teammates to keep their feet on the ground after they moved 12 points clear in Ligat Ha'Al with a 1-0 win over Maccabi Haifa.

Amos, 25, denied Haifa with two outstanding saves before Barak Badash fired an 86th minute winner.

"We didn't think about winning the title before the season started," said Amos.

"We thought about equalling last season's fourth place, but after stringing together six wins in December we started believing the title is possible - although there is still a long way to go."

Promoted in 2010, Hapoel have no internationals and cannot afford its quota of five overseas players. Amos is crucial to the side's success, having been beaten only 11 times in 24 games - half the number of goals conceded by nearest rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Amos was raised on nearby Kibbutz Kfar Blum. Born in South Africa, he was brought to Israel as a baby by his English father, Lindsay, and Zimbabwe-born mother, Debby.

He said: "I grew up in a home where two languages were spoken - English and rugby." His older brother, Natan, fulfilled the family's love of rugby, and plays professionally in Germany – and is an Israel international.

His younger brother, Micha, is a dancer with the Vertigo company. But Amos loved football and, aged 12, became a goalkeeper when the local team's regular stopper missed training.

Until this season, he struggled to command a first team place. He said: "My recent marriage to Inbar has given me more peace of mind and I'm more focused on the pitch."

Inevitably, the team will break up with manager Ran Ben Shimon linked with a move to Maccabi Haifa to replace Elisha Levy, while Amos is looking to Europe.

Uncapped, holding a UK passport through his father means all doors are open for Amos. He said: "I'm interested in any good offers from Europe, but the ultimate ambition would be to play in the Premier League, the best league in the world."

A lifelong Liverpool fan, Amos says he is "unlikely to say no to a good offer from England's lower divisions".

But, for now, with 11 games remaining, he is concentrating on the league. The Toto Cup is already in the club's trophy cabinet and a remarkable domestic treble is still on.

Federation Cup woe for Shahar and co

Simon Griver — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:59 +0000

Shahar Peer offered no excuses following Israel's woeful performance at Federation Cup European Group qualifiers in Eilat.

Israel failed to take advantage of playing on home soil and missed out on a place in the World Group playoffs after finishing ninth in the 15-team tournament.

A victory over Holland counted for little after defeats by Britain and Portugal. Israel were comprehensively beaten by Britain, failing to win a single set in a 3-0 defeat. Shahar Peer (world ranking 37) was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Elena Baltacha (57), while Julia Glushko (211) went down 6-2, 6-1 against Anne Keothavong (88). Keren Mor and Glushko needed to win the doubles to keep Israel in the tie, but they were swept aside 6-1, 6-2 by Laura Robson and Heather Watson.

The hosts had opened poorly a day earlier, going down 2-1 to Portugal. Glushko made a positive start by beating Maria Koehler in the opening rubber, but then Peer was outplayed by Michelle Larcher de Brito, who is ranked 99 places below her at 136. Peer and Glushko lost the doubles to the Portuguese duo, going down 6-4 in the deciding set.

Peer said: "We just weren't good enough and didn't deserve to progress. We will try our best again next time.

"I think my own tennis is improving considering I've just recovered from injury."

Peer, who last year complained about the conduct of the critical Eilat spectators, could have had no qualms this year. A crowd of over 2,000 stayed behind after the disappointing whitewash against Britain and gave the Israeli team a standing ovation.

Off court, much of the talk in the Red Sea resort was about Peer's budding romance with Olympic men's windsurfing bronze medallist Shahar Zubari.

Surprised? Don't be. He's a winner

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:59 +0000

The selection of a Maccabiah football manager is always a contentious issue, and it would be fair to say that the appointment of David Pollock has come as a surprise to some.

The reality is that whoever was named as successor to Lord Kestenbaum would have big boots to fill, especially after he came so close to gold in 2009.

But the facts speak for themselves. Pollock has led GB delegations to gold at the last two major events and with Bobby Fisher working alongside him, there's no doubt he'll earn the respect of the squad. I had my first proper chat with him this week and was impressed by what he had to say.

I'm also pleased to see Jamie Cole involved. Love him or loathe him, the bottom line is that he is one of the most successful managers in the history of Jewish football. He is a winner and I can see his partnership with Danny Jacobs paying dividends. They're a bit like chalk and cheese, but I can definitely see it working.

● Lee Cash is my Player of the Month for January. The Neasden hotshot has been in sensational form, scoring seven goals in three games, including a hat-trick against FC Team. He's also chipped in with three assists in a run that temporarily lifted the team to the top of the Premier Division, as well as march into the last eight of the Peter Morrison.

NWN joint-manager Darren Yarlett said: "People have been saying he is finished, but he's proved them wrong."

Oakwood are celebrating a win double. Ric Blank and Alex Schock take the title for top league managers, while Adam Levine is my star man in Division One. Hotshot Dan Baneth stole the show in Division Two. Camden's Nick Kagan said: "Dan turning in a series of performances that his idol Dennis Bergkamp would have been proud of."

Glenthorne B keeper Jordan Davidson (Division Three), Athletic Bilbaum Edward Green (Division Four), Lions Declan Green (Safe Hands) and Oakwood Jason Lindsay (top signing) are the other winners.

● Eli Baraty has left Catford & Bromley to try his luck at Temple Fortune. Cats joint-manager Adam Lewis said: "We wish him all the best, safe in the knowledge he'll most likely be back with us before we've even had time to notice he was gone."

● Athletico Finchley chairman Zach Margolin won the race to sign new centre back Ed Brafman with just an hour to spare before the deadline for Barry Goldstein Cup.

A special day for Alon, 20

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:58 +0000

Alon Day is ready to take his place in the history books after signing for Belardi Auto Racing to race in the 2012 Indy Lites series.

Day, who is 20 and from Ashdod, will become the first Israeli to compete in America. He will compete on the Firestone Indy Lights roster for the season in 13 races across the US and Canada.

Day said: "I had a great test in December. I'm absolutely delighted and looking forward to working with everyone at Belardi and will try to bring them the championship."

Brian Belardi, the team owner, said: "Alon really blew us away when he came down to test with us at Palm Beach in December.

"His very first time in an Indy Lights car could not have gone better and we are very lucky to have him join our program.

"I think with Alon's natural talent and determination, he will have a really great season as a rookie in the Firestone Indy Lights series."

Day, who is sponsored by the Jewish Racing Drivers Association, was selected by ex-Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz as one of 12 FIA Ambassadors as part of the FIA Institute Academy Initiative last year.

He will carry the JRDA logo on his new Belardi car. Day said: "It acts as a visible reminder to our community everywhere that anyone with enough ambition and drive can achieve anything."

Let's do it in style, says Maccabiah football manager

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:28:09 +0000

David Pollock is targeting a historic treble after he was named manager of the Team GB Open football squad for next year’s Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Pollock, 52, was joint-manager of the all-conquering squad who won gold at last summer’s European Maccabi Games in Vienna and he was also part of the successful 45-plus Masters team that won the 2009 Maccabiah title.

Factfile
Age: 52
Lives: Hatch End
Occupation: Managing Director of Greene and Co estate agents

Football CV
2009 – won gold as manager of the Masters 45+ team
2011 – won gold as joint-manager of the Open Football squad
Chairman of London Maccabi Lions

Q&A WITH TEAM GB OPEN FOOTBALL MANAGER – DAVID POLLOCK

How do you feel about getting the job?
"I'm really excited at the prospect. We had a really good bunch of guys in Austria, with great spirit. I want to build on it a build a great football and Maccabiah spirit.

What are you goals for Israel in 2013?
"If we win with the right balance it will be fantastic, but I won’t know if it will surpass what we did in 2009 – our first football gold in 45 years. I’m going for a hat-trick and it would be really special.

"What would mean more to me than gold is that the boys soak in the full Maccabiah experience. It’s a lot more than just a football tournament. On the pitch it’s about winning and not coming second in a creditable way that reflects the spirit of the Games. It’s about winning in the right way."

Do you have any concerns aout the cost of the Games?
"A lot of people talk about the cost of the Games but forget it’s a two-and-a-half-week experience including pre-camp, so they underestimate the costs involved.

"Cost will be the biggest challenge in these very hard economic times. The boys will find it very hard to go to Israel and make it affordable. On the fund-raising side, I hope to make it as easy as we can and subsidise where possible.

"I want the players have to approach the financial situation one step at a time. The message is get through the trial process and then we’ll discuss. I’d hate to see anyone not go because they couldn’t afford it.

"I want to bring the cost down for all the boys and we will work as one to turn the negatives into a positive.

"It's important we get the best players on the plane and that they experience the Maccabiah Games rather than luxury weekends away."

What are you plans for the coaching team?
"Being a Maccabiah manager is like driving a bus. You need the right people in the right seats. I’ll take the views of my team into account comfortable with my knowledge base and let the right people make the correct decisions.

"It’s important I get the right structure in place and I’m very excited to work with Bobby again. I’ll be surrounding myself with people who are more intelligent than me football-wise. That’s the kind of thing that builds a successful team."

How to you plan to ensure the top Jewish players in the country are watched?
"We'll be looking to get as many people involved as possible and I’ll be working with someone in the north of England. Once we select a provisional squad, we’ll be watching all the boys two or three times before we narrow it down to a final 18, so anyone in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool should know that it won’t just be based on one trial."

How far do you think you can go in Israel?
"It’s about rolling up our sleeves and in many respects, being a bit of an underdog. We’ll adopt a siege mentality with the mindset of a gold-medal winning experience.

"We will do well if we adopt the right attitude early on. If we get that right then I’ll be very confident.”

What do you think about the state of Jewish football/overall standard?
"I believe Jewish football is strong right now. London Lions are playing in the South Midlands League, while there are some great players at Redbridge Jewish Care and North West Neasden.

"There are also some other hidden gems dotted around and I recently saw a Manchester Maccabi team with some excellent players.

"The squad will be very well prepared and I’m looking for players based in the UK."

Bernstein: Search for a new manager begins tomorrow

Danny Caro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:29:43 +0000

FA chairman David Bernstein has confirmed that the process to find the next England manager will start tomorrow.

In a press conference at Wembley Stadium, Mr Bernstein described the last few days as "a challenging time" after revealing details of his recent meeting with outgoing boss Fabio Capello.

Mr Bernstein said: "It is regrettable when a manager leaves like this. In the end he decided he had to go.

"I agree that the manager is the most important person at a football club, but there are moments the chairman and board have to step up to the plate and a firm hand is required.

"We went into the meeting with an open mind, but we also went in with concerns. We had two meetings and there was no pressure on him after the first one. It was a full and frank meeting and was very much his decision.

"I accepted Fabio's resignation when he offered it in the interests of the FA and the English football. Sacking him didn't arise.

"The meeting ended with a handshake. Fabio did not storm out of the room, as has been reported."

The initial meeting lasted more than an hour as Mr Capello was asked for his account of a recent interview on Italian TV over the FA's decision to remove the captaincy from John Terry, who is due to stand trial in July over racial abuse allegations after an incident with Anton Ferdinand.

"Fabio went on to Italian television and caused conjecture and we were unhappy with the situation,” said Bernstein.

"We all believed the John Terry situation would be dealt with in March/April and were surprised when it was delayed.

"Fabio wasn't happy, but he accepted the board’s decision on the matter.

"I don't think we were wrong not to suspend Jonny Terry after the CPS decision. I think we got it absolutely right. The best solution is for the court to come to a solution but once the date of the hearing changed, it changed the whole dynamic. We did not want this hanging over us.

"I believe the principles are extremely important and it was done in the interests of English football."

The chairman moved on to discuss who will replace the Italian. He said: "The next manager will not definitely be English," he said. "I’d prefer an English or British manager, but it will be the best person. I don't want to rule anyone out at this stage.

"It's very early days in terms of a shortlist but the FA board will meet tomorrow."

Looking ahead to the Euro 2012 finals, Bernstein said: "We're in very good shape in many way. Organisational matters are in place and there is still plenty of time for a new manager to get into place to do what he needs to do.

"I can't get into discussions about any individuals. I don’t want to rush the process but it will be a major priority. That goes without saying.

"I know the importance of success and winning matches. We want a winning set-up and there will be total focus on getting the best person for the job in place as soon as possible."

Mr Bernstein confirmed that Under 21 boss Stuart Pearce will be in charge of the team for the forthcoming friendly against Holland, as interim manager. He said: "Stuart Pearce's first thought is for his country, without any conditions. I was very impressed with his attitude."

Asked about the timing of a new appointment, Mr Bernstein said: "I believe the situation can be resolved very quickly.

"There is a break after the Holland game. We would expect an experienced, top manager to pick up the reins very quickly.

"We want to make an appointment the public are positive about and excites the fans, but we have to do it properly, with a clear mind. Our supporters are crucial to us."

Looking back on the Capello era, Mr Bernstein said: "The appointment was very expensive but it was certainly not a mistake. He’s been a very good manager and the results have been perfectly acceptable.

"The team has performed very well away from home. I think it’s a question of confidence at Wembley. I’m hopeful the new manager with imbue extra confidence at home."

Mr Bernstein also spoke about the FA’s new code of conduct. "We've been working on it for some time," he said. "It will be in place in the next few months."

Raising the bar: how a bold idea sparked success

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:28:10 +0000

The biggest Jewish Society fundraising initiative ever undertaken on a British campus has raised more than £11,000 for charity.

Students from Nottingham JSoc took part in the 100 for 100 campaign, which encouraged 100 members to each raise £100. Many raised far more.

The money will be split between eight charities: Tzedek, Save a Child's Heart, Aegis, Age UK, One Family, Tikva, Chaplaincy and UJS.

More than 1,000 people have donated to the campaign, raising £11,100 with more money still to be collected. It has been so successful that students from Birmingham and Manchester asked to join in and were also sponsored. It is now hoped the 100 for 100 brand will be extended to other JSocs around the country.

Organisers Rebecca Schapira, Dan Clyne and Sarah-Jayne Grahame said they had wanted to encourage fellow
students to take part in creative and innovative fundraising initiatives.

Charity efforts undertaken for their campaign included students selling sushi and cupcakes, organising a 24-hour radio show, performing magic tricks, doing sponsored silences, running three-legged races and space-hopping across campus.

The project culminated in a final showpiece event last week, with the 100 participants taking part in a mass game of Twister.

Rebecca said: "We realised that our JSoc had not done much fundraising and we wanted to put on an event.

"I came up with the idea and thought it would be amazing to get 100 students doing something together as a grand gesture and a JSoc-wide project. I saw it more as a long-running campaign than a one-off event.

"Everything went so well. We were bold but you have to be. People need that
chutzpah and desire to inspire fellow students.

"We knew there were 100 students or more who are regular attendees at JSoc events, so it was just a matter of engaging them and making them want to do it."

Students were excited to join the campaign and Rebecca believes its success disproves claims that students are "lazy".

She added: "We cannot just be Jewish students in name; we have to be Jewish students in what we do and how we act. People need to realise that Jewish students are not sitting at home worrying about being attacked.

"So many non-Jewish students have been talking about what JSoc has done on campus. I'm really proud of everyone."

Max Sobell was among those taking part, raising more than £760 by chaining himself to the outside of the JSoc house for 24 hours.

The 19-year-old politics and American studies student went without food to make the challenge that extra bit tougher.

He said: "It's probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I was chained to a post from midnight to midnight on probably one of the coldest nights of the year.

"I tried to keep myself busy by making a video blog but the boredom was pretty bad. I wanted to do it because I thought it was great having so many students volunteering at a grassroots level to raise so much money for such great charities."

Max added: "What got me through was having other people come to see me and the camaraderie of us all working together.

"Now I've done it it's such a satisfying feeling."

Brady finds a home through London Maccabi collaboration

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:34 +0000

Two major sporting and social organisations have joined forces with Brady Maccabi's relocation to London Maccabi's 52-acre site in Rowley Lane, Barnet. Brady Maccabi - whose Edgware premises closed in 2009 - was set up more than a century ago in London's East End.

London Maccabi is Britain's biggest Jewish sports club and home to close-on 30 football teams. It will now additionally host Brady's junior and men's teams.

Brady trustee Joel Nathan said that London Maccabi was the "only place to be right now" for the club and the link-up would ensure that future generations had access to sports and youth activities.

London Maccabi trustee David Kyte said the club had developed "a sports and social facility that we believe our community can be proud of in every way.

"We have achieved so much, but by welcoming Brady Maccabi to Rowley Lane we hope together we will be even stronger."

Morasha buys site for school

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:34 +0000

The Morasha Jewish Primary has acquired the former Barnet College site in Stanhope Road, North Finchley, for its new premises and hopes to move in later this year, subject to the completion of refurbishment.

Once the school moves, it will be renamed the Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary, honouring Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, "who has done so much for the development and expansion of Jewish education and who has taken a deep interest in Morasha since its foundation".

A spokesman added that architects had been instructed "with extensive experience in the design of Jewish schools to ensure that the building complies with both the regulations for a voluntary-aided school and the particular needs of a Jewish primary.

"In addition, we have already initiated discussions with Barnet Council to obtain voluntary-aided status and are hopeful that we will be able to submit a formal application later this year." The intention is to build up to a 210-pupil capacity.

As part of a £2 million capital fundraising campaign, Lord Sacks will address a support dinner next month.

Gove marks JCoSS very

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:33 +0000

The student parliament at JCoSS has been a hot political ticket of late, with a visit from Education Secretary Michael Gove following Labour leader Ed Miliband's tour of the cross-communal Barnet school.

Pupils told Mr Gove of their parliamentary achievements over the past year and the minister noted with interest their favourite lesson - a history-based version of Deal or No Deal. Mr Gove also observed science and English classes and visited the school's provision for students on the autistic spectrum.

Praising JCoSS's "outstanding achievements", he professed himself "very impressed with the pupils, facilities and quality of teaching. I was also delighted to meet members of the student parliament - an impressive group of young and confident students, especially as they are only year seven and eight. It is clear that JCoSS is a credit to the community."

To Russia with love as liberators are thanked

Jessica Elgot — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:33 +0000

Anne Frank's stepsister spent Holocaust Memorial Day in Moscow, thanking Russian veterans who helped to liberate her and others from Auschwitz.

Eva Schloss, 82, spent six days in the Russian capital in temperatures as low as -15 degrees.

"I have always wanted to go to Russia to meet the army veterans," she said. "It was very emotional for me, really very special. The veterans I met were in their 90s and so I thought it really was now or never."

The Moscow HMD ceremony was attended by 250 people, among them schoolchildren, government officials, the Israeli and German ambassadors and Jewish community members.

Mrs Schloss hoped Russia would officially adopt HMD. "The relationship with the West has not been so wonderful, but now that most of Europe has adopted the day, I think the Russians are more open to it. The government seemed quite positive about it and I think it will happen within the next couple of years.

"They were extremely pleased to have the ceremony. The German ambassador spoke particularly movingly."

Mrs Schloss also gave talks about her experiences in the camps and visited the Moscow Holocaust museum and memorial.

Yad Vashem officials were also in Moscow. "They are looking to find more names of the 2.5 million people who died from Russia," Mrs Schloss explained. "They only have around half the names so they are trying to get in touch with Christian neighbours of Jewish villagers, who might remember."

Pupils get festively fruity

Jonathan Kalmus — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:33 +0000

At least 10,000 pupils from 40 Jewish schools, nurseries and youth groups nationwide have contributed to the dispatch of 500 fruit baskets to needy families on Tu Bishvat.

Food collection charity Gift organised the drive, which has benefited organisations including the Jewish women's refuge in London and Jewish Blind and Disabled residents.

Gift director Michelle Barnett said: "We are overwhelmed by the response. The baskets - which were also decorated by the children - were delightful."

Leo Baeck welcomes first lady principal

Simon Rocker — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:32 +0000

The Leo Baeck College has held an induction service for a new principal for the first time.

Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris - a rabbinic graduate of the college and the first woman principal in its 66-year history - was formally installed in a ceremony conducted by Rabbi Colin Eimer of Shaarei Tsedek North London Reform Synagogue. Part of the rabbinic team at Shaarei Tsedek and a part-time lecturer at the college before becoming principal, Rabbi Kahn-Harris recently gained her doctorate in biblical studies from Sheffield University.

European Union for Progressive Judaism president Leslie Bergman said the college was an "invaluable partner" in the regeneration of Jewish life. Twenty years ago, there were just four European countries outside the UK with a Progressive community. There were now 18.

Honorary fellowships were awarded to former Leo Baeck chairman Miriam Kramer, who is president-designate of the EUPJ; former treasurer David Liebling; former vice-principal Rabbi Dr Michael Shire and Joseph Edward Cross, who has organised the choirs for rabbinic ordination ceremonies.

Rabbi Atlas thinks the world of Birmingham

Cathy Forman — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:17:31 +0000

Birmingham Central Synagogue has appointed Rabbi Chanan Atlas as minister, filling the vacancy left by the departure of Shlomo Odze to become associate rabbi at South Hampstead Synagogue.

Central president Geoffrey Clements said the search for a spiritual leader was always challenging, "especially when trying to take into consideration the needs of a provincial community. Rabbi Atlas and his wife tick all the boxes for us. We look forward to them joining the community and to exciting times ahead."

Israeli-born Rabbi Atlas, 34, and his wife Nechama, 32, currently live in Nitzan, near Ashdod, with their four children. He directs a Jewish leadership programme and was, for three years, minister of Port Elizabeth Hebrew Congregation in South Africa. Mrs Atlas is a qualified teacher and educational guidance counsellor.

Rabbi Atlas had found the Birmingham congregation "vibrant, dynamic and optimistic. My family and I consider ourselves fortunate to become part of this community."

He and his wife worked as a team and "Nechama will be involved in all aspects of communal life".