Board outraged at Vatican

The reinstatement by the Pope of a Holocaust-denying bishop has been condemned as an “outrage” by the Board of Deputies.

A resolution passed at Sunday’s meeting reflected communal anger at the lifting of the excommunication of the British-born ultra-traditionalist Bishop Richard Williamson. The clergyman contends that the Holocaust was a Jewish invention and that “only” up to 300,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

The motion was proposed by former board president Lionel Kopelowitz, who said that a text of the resolution would be sent to the Vatican.

More..

Board urges shuls to adopt green agenda

Efforts to move environmental issues up the communal agenda have been outlined by the Board of Deputies.

In a report distributed to delegates at Sunday’s meeting in Central London, the board’s Environmental and Social Issues Action Group explained: “The intention is that green issues should become a major concern rather than a minor one as currently — and that the Jewish community should become green in practice as well as in theory.”

More..

Jewdas sorry over hoax email

The maverick group Jewdas has apologised to the Board of Deputies for trying to wreck last week’s pro-Israel Trafalgar Square rally.

Jewdas said that it would also transfer an internet domain name that it used to the Board and gave its “guarantee” that it would not impersonate the Board again.

More..

Helping refugees

Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald was part of a Jewish Council for Racial Equality delegation which discussed the plight of destitute asylum seekers with London Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes at City Hall on Tuesday.

The meeting focused on the role of Jewish communities in supporting those refused asylum, who are being assisted at centres such as the New London Synagogue drop-in facility. New London’s Rabbi Jeremy Gordon was also part of the delegation, along with Jcore’s Dr Edie Friedman.

More..

Charedim fight new marriage visa rules

The government may face a challenge to a law that will raise the marriage visa age from 18 to 21.

Campaigners, led by Michoel Posen of Agudas Israel Community Services in Stamford Hill, have warned that the law will have a severe effect on many marriages in the Charedi community, involving young people from Israel, America and Canada.

European Union countries are not affected by the law, due to come into force on November 27.

More..

Birth figures reveal strength of the family

More British Jews are being born than are dying each year, according to the latest survey by the Board of Deputies published this week.

And the number of divorces sanctioned by Orthodox or Reform rabbinic authorities dropped to the lowest on record for nearly 20 years.

The number of Jewish deaths last year also dropped - below 3,000 for the first time since the Board began compiling records in the 1960s.

More..

Reluctant mohels skew birth figures

The Board of Deputies says it is being hampered in the collection of Jewish birth statistics because not all mohelim (circumcisers) are providing figures for brits performed each year.

The number of births is based on the annual circumcisions performed by mohelim registered with the respective Orthodox and Progressive societies.

More..

Chief’s projects head is to lead volunteers

Leonie Lewis, the Chief Rabbi's projects director, is leaving his office after a year-and-a-half to become the first chief executive of the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN).

The former head of the United Synagogue's Community Development Group - who was number 69 in this year's JC Power 100 - will also be undertaking consultancy work for the US and the London School of Jewish Studies.

More..

Boris praises Jewish Londoners

Boris Johnson helped the Board of Deputies to attract a big turnout for its president’s dinner at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel last week.

The London Mayor entertained the 400 guests at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in stitches with a string of amusing anecdotes and asides.

He later paid tribute to the audience for helping him through his speech. “I had a very busy day and I was shattered when I arrived in the room. I had nothing to say but they made it so easy for me to talk about what I want to do.

More..

Board attacks Tonge’s Israel lobby criticism

The president of the Board of Deputies has written to the leader of the Lib Dems in the House of Lords to complain after the outspoken critic of Israel, Baroness Tonge, made comments about the Board in Parliament.

In his letter to Lord McNally, Henry Grunwald said that the Lib Dem peer had “allowed her criticism of Israel to overstep the mark” and had “gone too far” during a debate last Thursday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More..