Our Jewish Moments

Our Jewish moments

Miriam Shaviv — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:40:32 +0100

My Jewish Moments: Emily Maitlis

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:36:28 +0100

Emily Maitlis is a BBC journalist and newsreader

Most significant Jewish moment?

It was, oddly, when I got married to Mark, my Catholic boy. We had a rabbi and a priest doing the service together and we have the most beautiful photo of the two of them dancing together to klezmer music. It was a very important moment to have my family there, and accepting of our choice, and for that reason it was extremely emotionally profound.

My favourite biblical character?

Probably Joseph as I love what he made himself into from a desperate start. Also, because he was flawed and he learned to tone down his own arrogance.

Favourite mitzvah?

I thought you weren’t supposed to talk about the really good ones. I love working for Action for Children, an amazing charity that takes kids from appalling backgrounds and gives them hope.

Israel for me is…

A place of wonderful lemon and orange and olive groves and great family holidays when I was tiny.

The last time you went to synagogue?

For the barmitzvah of my nephew, Simon. The whole family was there, and Simon did so brilliantly we all wanted to cheer very loudly. That was my second favourite Jewish moment!

Favourite Jewish book?

When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson. It made me laugh a lot.

My Jewish Moments: Anna Maxted

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:30:58 +0100

Anna Maxted is a novelist and journalist.

Most significant Jewish moment?

I was about to interview Dr Jonathan Sacks for the JC. I was 22. An associate of the Chief Rabbi greeted me. I went to shake hands. He seemed to back away, and I bleated: “Sorry!” realising that if he were very religious, I’d made a blunder. “No,” he said, “I’m just holding the door open for you.”

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

Samson —– there’s a whiff of Hamlet about him. He’s an endearing mixture of strength and weakness.

Favourite mitzvah?

Not to test the Prophet unduly.

Israel for me is…

Precious times spent with my grandparents in Haifa as a child. Every memory is cherished.

Last time you went to synagogue?

The last time I went I was better behaved than when I was seven — I disgraced myself then by laughing during the blowing of the Shofar. It was my sister’s fault.

Favourite Jewish book?

Betrayal by Sasha Blake — a Jewish bonkbuster. All I can say is, I like it for personal reasons.

My Jewish Moments: Simon Sebag Montefiore

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:26:37 +0100

Simon Sebag Montefiore is a historian and writer.

Most significant Jewish moment?

When my wife Santa converted to Judaism — a wonderful and romantic moment.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

King David of course — I am spending much time with him because I am now writing my history of Jerusalem. David’s decision to make Jerusalem his capital changed the history not only of the city but of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. David fascinates me, but I’d like to meet Simon Bar Kochba too, and many other Jerusalemite heroes.

Favourite mitzvah?

Not sure what you mean here. What good deeds I’ve done lately? I hope I’ve done something good.

Israel for me is…

Being able to visit the Western Wall.

Last time you went to synagogue?

The Day of Atonement last year.

Favourite Jewish book?

I love all the books by Isaac Bashevis Singer — The Manor and The Estate are two of his best — and the greatest Jewish historian is Josephus.

My Jewish Moments: Alan Dershowitz

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:57:46 +0100

Alan Dershowitz is a lawyer, renowned for his high-profile celebrity cases and Israel advocacy.

Most significant Jewish moment?

Meeting my wife at a Jewish singles event in the Boston area in 1982.

Which biblical character would you like to meet and why?

Abraham. I would like to ask him where he got the chutzpah to argue with God about the sinners of Sodom and why he walked away after getting God to agree not to destroy the city if 10 righteous people were found. Why not five? Why not one?

Favourite mitzvah?

Teaching my grandchildren how to swim.

Israel for me is…

A challenge, not a promise.

Last time you went to synagogue?

I speak at synagogues all the time. I go to hear cantors daven in synagogues. I’ve just finished saying kaddish for my mother so I was in synagogue fairly recently.

Favourite Jewish book?

Genesis (in the original Hebrew, since none of the translations do it justice).

My Jewish Moments: Tovah Feldschuh

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:53:29 +0100

Tovah Feldshuh is a Broadway actress, singer and playwright

Most significant Jewish moment?

Being the only batmitzvah in my eighth grade at Quaker Ridge School and one of the lone Conservative Jewish families at that time. I really had to stand on my own two feet regarding our commitment to Judaism — and I did.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

Moses, because he was so humble and yet such a superb leader. I would have much to learn from him. And if not Moses, give me Barack!

Favourite mitzvah?

Raising money for Israel, and teaching.

Israel for me is…

Our life insurance.

Last time you went to synagogue?

The last High Holy Days because I have been involved in the Broadway run of Irena’s Vow, which really prohibited the pleasure of attending Friday night services at my beloved B’nai Jeshurun.

Favourite Jewish book? ,/b>

The books of Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and Gerda Weissmann Klein’s One Survivor Remembers.

My Jewish Moments: Vivian Wineman

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:48:16 +0100

Vivian Wineman is president of the Board of Deputies

Most significant Jewish moment?

Getting married.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

Elijah. Out of curiosity, as I would like to know what he was like as an individual. Was he as much of a loner as he is portrayed? Why did he acquire such a mystique for later generations?

Your favourite mitzvah?

Keeping Shabbat.

Israel for me is…

This is the country where I spent the most formative period of my life and where most of my family now live. I have a second home there and have always wanted to settle there.

Last time you went to synagogue?

Last Shabbat.

Favourite Jewish book?

The Bible. It has it all — history, adventure, sex, romance, sublime poetry, wonderful insights as well as incredibly long lists! It is in turn exciting, uplifting, enigmatic, troubling and deeply subversive.

My Jewish Moments: Annabel Karmel

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:45:06 +0100

Annabel Karmel is a food writer and author

Most significant Jewish moment?

I lost my first child Natasha at the age of 13 weeks. Although she was born healthy, she died from a viral infection that caused encephalitis and she died in my arms. It was devastating. Jonathan Sacks gave a speech at her funeral and he said that every year God takes a number of innocent souls to be at his side and that was where Natasha had gone. It was a bleak time for me having all the joys of motherhood and then losing my child, but this gave me some comfort. God was good to me as one year later I gave birth to a son.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

Miriam, who stands head and shoulders above most other biblical characters. Her role as a leader is more sharply delineated and mentioned equally with Moses and Aaron as leading the Israelites out of Egypt Even in her early life, she showed great faith and cunning when she launched her brother in the Nile. I would like to ask her how she devised such a plan, risking a dangerous outcome.

Favourite mitzvah?

I try to help children whenever I can. I think my favourite mitzvah was when I organised a concert where my children played to raise money for One Family— a charity supporting victims of suicide bombers and other atrocities.

Israel for me is…

I visited Auschwitz a few years ago and having seen where so many Jewish people lost their lives, Israel is important to me not only as a beautiful country that I am proud of but also as a refuge for Jews from all over the world.

Last time you went to synagogue?

My last visit to synagogue was for a family wedding. I don’t go to synagogue every Saturday, but I do go on High Holy Days.

Favourite Jewish book?

Art Spiegelman’s Maus which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. This is the epic story of Vladek Spiegelman a Polish, Jewish survivor of Auschwiz and Dachau depicted in cartoons by his son. The Jews are depicted as mice and the Nazis as cats. It shows how Vladek survived against all the odds, coming to terms with his first son’s death and his wife’s suicide.

My Jewish Moments: Lord Levy

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:41:46 +0100

Lord Levy is a philanthropist, a Labour peer and a former aide to Tony Blair.

Most significant Jewish moment?

It was when I was travelling to and from Damascus in Syria on official trips as Prime Minister Blair’s Personal Envoy to the Middle East. I was going there with Foreign Office officials to see the late President Hafez al-Assad.

On one occasion I was there over a Shabbat and I asked to go to the only remaining active synagogue. There was just over a minyan in attendance. I of course had to go into the synagogue with very heavy security, but this did not take away from the excitement and emotion. I led part of the service and did the Haftarah. I literally had tears in my eyes as did virtually everyone else who was there. This was, for me, a unique and very special moment.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

I think I would be fascinated by Ruth — her honesty, integrity and commitment which made her, in my opinion, a truly historic figure. I would be interested to hear her views on how she would fare today in front of the Beth Din over her conversion.

Favourite mitzvah?

Whenever I speak to the youth of our community, whether it be JFS, JLGB, UJS or others, I always feel truly inspired. Although perhaps this is not just a mitzvah, but a great pleasure too.

Israel for me is…

A combination of a deep love and commitment but now mixed with a sense of confusion, anxiety and frustration. My commitment to Israel goes back to my grandfather, the late Rev Abraham Birenbaum, a truly committed Zionist, and, of course, my late parents. In my youth, as a member of the B’nei Akiva movement, I developed a great love of Israel and I was subsequently inspired by leaders such as the late Yitzhak Rabin.

However, my confusion and frustration stems from the country’s political system, the way governments are put together, the merry-go-round political leadership that does not seem to allow for new visionary leaders and leaves, in my opinion, a major vacuum.

Last time you went to synagogue?

I went to the synagogue last Shabbat and I try and go every Shabbat and Yomtov.

Favourite Jewish book?

My name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok.

My Jewish Moments: Shmuley Boteach

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:37:46 +0100

Shmuley Boteach is a rabbi and author

Most significant Jewish moment?

My most significant Jewish moment came under the wedding canopy when I felt that in a ceremony rich with spiritual meaning I was being joined to a nobler, gentler, more stable soul than my own, and in so doing I was being cleansed of much of the turmoil of my childhood.

Which biblical character would you like to meet, and why?

Moses. I’d ask him how he had the unimaginable courage to wrestle with God and demand that his name be removed from the Torah if God carried through his threat of exterminating the Jewish people in the wake of the sin of the Golden Calf. I have met some tough Jews in my life but this is in a different league, a boldness that has no parallel in the annals of any apocalyptic literature.

Favourite mitzvah?

Honouring the Sabbath. As I go through life I feel the noise of the world and the incessant demands made of me permeating my very soul so that I know no peace. Immersing myself in the legal constraints of Shabbos is, quite simply, the most liberating thing I do all week.

Israel for me is…

The place where my identity as a Jew becomes most whole. Outside of Israel I cultivate an inner Jewish environment that travels with me wherever I go and affords me the strength to live by the courage of my Jewish convictions. But in Israel that inner environment is mirrored by an outer environment, affording perfect Jewish synthesis and clarity.

Favourite Jewish book?

The Book of Genesis is filled with characters who have become world icons and are presented in all their magnificent and flawed glory. The story of Adam and Eve failing to appreciate paradise and causing their own eviction is the most profound morality tale ever told. Abraham wrestling with his ideas of a compassionate God as he is ordered to murder his son. Jacob wrestling with an angel. These are the most dramatic and soul-wrenching stories ever told.