Community life

Liberals find their true voice in Brum

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:55:08 +0100

Some 250 Liberal Jews from across the country congregated at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue on Sunday for a day of celebration and learning.

The programme started with a concert of new and traditional liturgical music, featuring the choir from Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue and Birmingham’s cross-communal Kol Kinor singers. There was then a choice of 30 sessions on diverse subjects including parenthood, art and music.

Among the highlights were a session on mixed faith families led by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein and a challah-baking class with Rabbi Sandra Kviat.

Liberal Judaism provided free coaches from both north and south London to the venue. Movement chief executive Rabbi Danny Rich said: “We are proud to have brought such a varied and enriching programme to Birmingham.”

Organiser Rabbi Charley Baginsky added that the day had been “inspiring. The huge number of congregations and rabbis involved testifies to the sheer reach of our message.”

Butcher shop is gutted by fire

Jonathan Kalmus — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:54:53 +0100

The head of a family-run kosher butcher in north Manchester has vowed to rebuild the business after his shop was gutted by fire on Friday night.

Fire crews were quickly on the scene at Meat Mart on King’s Road, the major Prestwich Jewish shopping area, when the blaze was reported at around 10.30pm. It took over an hour to bring it under control using special hoses designed to tackle larger blazes.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue said an electrical failure in a freezer unit was was the suspected cause.
Owner Chaim Erlanger watched the shop burn down, having been called out during his Friday night dinner.

“There was just smoke, smoke, smoke.All I can say is that, baruch Hashem, no one was hurt and we will reopen.” There was also considerable smoke damage to adjoining properties.

Norwood open to challenges

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:48:35 +0100

Thirty-two women aged from late-30s to 70-plus have completed Stanmore Synagogue’s first “Batmitzvah Two” programme, spearheaded by rebbetzen Aviva Landau.

Most of the participants in the comprehensive six-week course had felt a sense of loss at not having had a batmitzvah in their youth.

And after sessions on topics ranging from challah plaiting to kashrut, a graduation ceremony was held where four of the women shared their divrei Torah with Lady Sacks, who led a discussion on the course and on becoming batmitzvah. The celebrations continued at the subsequent Shabbat when the women received a special batmitzvah blessing from Stanmore senior rabbi Mendel Lew.

“Several women whose daughters and even granddaughters have enjoyed wonderful bnot mitzvot had told me their own coming of age education lacked in some way,” the rebbetzen said.

“So our programme was created to explain the true significance of many of the rituals that are part of everyday life, as well as to provoke interest in some lesser known mitzvot.”

Morris Feinmann: a happy end to a moving story

Jonathan Kalmus — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:46:08 +0100

Changing demands for care of the elderly has put pressure on Jewish welfare agencies to adapt their properties. In south Manchester, the Morris Feinmann home’s solution has been the relocation of residents while its premises are rebuilt in a collaboration with a major regional care provider.

A number of Jewish care homes outside the capital have been closed or sold over the past year, leaving difficult choices for residents and their families. For example, occupants of Hull’s Menorah House, which announced its closure in April, will have to seek care in Leeds, 60 miles away, to enjoy kosher facilities.

Established over 50 years ago in a converted Victorian house in Didsbury, Morris Feinmann has been running at at an operational deficit of up to £300,000, with fluctuating under-occupancy over recent years. “The home was very expensive to maintain and difficult to staff,” explained trustee Helen Lister. “There wasn’t enough room for a dementia unit and there is more and more call for dementia care.”

In a move criticised by some for its haste, the trustees announced in December that residents would move to Allingham House, a non-Jewish care home near Altrincham, which would be converted for kosher use — even for the existing non-Jewish residents. Meanwhile, Morris Feinmann’s Didsbury facility would be rebuilt by 2015 in an £11 million scheme with CLS, a non-profit care firm running 26 homes in Cheshire.

Phase one — the move to Allingham — is now complete with only four of Morris Feinmann’s 48 residents not agreeing to transfer.

Viv Alexander could not explain to her 89-year-old mother Anita, who has dementia, why she had to move from Morris Feinmann. It had been a painful time but her mother was now settled. And she could visit her more because Allingham House was closer to her Bowdon home.

“I support what Morris Feinmann are doing,” she said. “It is something for the future of the community. All the residents have mixed well at Allingham, the Jewish and non-Jewish elements. It’s happened quite happily.”
Morris Feinmann treasurer Jonathan Sugarman anticipated that “three years down the line, we will have a new home, efficient and modern — and with a partner operating it which has the economies of scale and operating strategies we were struggling to provide”.

Belated batmitzvah celebrations in Stanmore

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:40:16 +0100

Thirty-two women aged from late-30s to 70-plus have completed Stanmore Synagogue’s first “Batmitzvah Two” programme, spearheaded by rebbetzen Aviva Landau.

Most of the participants in the comprehensive six-week course had felt a sense of loss at not having had a batmitzvah in their youth.

“Several women whose daughters and even granddaughters have enjoyed wonderful bnot mitzvot had told me their own coming of age education lacked in some way,” the rebbetzen said.

“So our programme was created to explain the true significance of many of the rituals that are part of everyday life, as well as to provoke interest in some lesser known mitzvot.”

Troubled Rosh Pinah hires interim head

Simon Rocker — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:38:16 +0100

An interim head has been installed at the troubled Rosh Pinah Primary School in Edgware amid a continuing rift between leading governors and many parents.

Alison Flegg, a qualified Ofsted inspector, arrived at the school this week — on “a temporary basis”, parents were told — in the wake of the absence of headteacher Anthony Wolfson.

But there was no sign of rapprochement between senior governors and a group of parents known as the Rosh Pinah Action Group, who have urged them to resign.

The group, which includes former governors, says it has mustered more than 200 signatories for a petition calling for the resignation of governors chair Barbara Hotz, deputy chair Annette Koslover and finance committee head Nick Kramer.

The group claims that the three governors have removed or are planning to remove their own children from Rosh Pinah, representing a “vote of no confidence” in the school.

They also allege a “breakdown in relationship” between governors and the school’s senior leadership team, lack of transparency on the part of the governing body and interference by governors in the running of the school.
Mrs Hotz was unavailable. Mrs Koslover said that the governors would not comment.

Last week, the three governors wrote to parents rejecting allegations made by the action group and also by staff.

They said that as long as they enjoyed the support of the school’s denominational body, the Scopus Jewish Educational Trust, the local authority, Barnet, and the majority of governors, they would remain “dedicated to carrying out the obligations that have been entrusted to us”. They were aware of issues relating to “the school’s academic performance, the overall governance of the school and the relationship between the governing body and the senior teaching staff”.

These were, they wrote, “matters for the leadership of the school and have not been helped by the fact that our headteacher has recently been unable to fulfil many of his responsibilities due to ill health.”
Scopus chairman Peter Ohrenstein also wrote to parents last week to reiterate its “full confidence” in the governing body.

But a spokesman for the action group said this week that “no one can seem to remove” Mrs Hotz and the two other named governors. “We have a complete lack of faith and confidence in what they are doing and want them to step down.”

However, one mother who backs the governors said that when her child experienced problems at the school, it was only their intervention that brought a satisfactory resolution. “They acted professionally, confidentially and promptly,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mrs Flegg wrote to parents on Wednesday to say that she had come across “several incidents involving children in physical disputes initiated by provocative actions”.

She hoped this was “unusual” for the school, but it had prompted her to review policy on children’s behaviour.
“In the meantime, parents of children who conduct themselves in this manner will be contacted and informed of the need to collect their child from school immediately,” she wrote. “There will be a discussion between the headteacher, parent and child the following morning in order to address the issue.”

Mitzvah Day spreads the word

Sandy Rashty — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:32:46 +0100

Four north-eastern local education authorities have incorporated Mitzvah Day into their syllabus.

The move by the LEAs in Durham, Hartlepool, Sunderland and South Tyneside will enable the Jewish-inspired programme of good deeds to be discussed across primary and secondary schools from September as part of a move to promote interfaith initiatives. Retired teacher and Newcastle Hebrew Congregation education director Dorothy
Sadlik had suggested the idea to the LEAs through her involvement In Sacre, the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education.

“It’s a way of informally bringing in Jewish values to the wider community,” said Mitzvah Day founder Laura Marks. “This will help us encourage schools to run Mitzvah Day as part of their syllabus.”

Rantzen rates the league

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:31:09 +0100

Esther Rantzen congratulated the League of Jewish Women on its continuing welfare work at the league’s 70th anniversary tea, held at St John’s Wood Synagogue. Five women raised their hands when she asked: “How many people here today have been LJW members for longer than 50 years?”

The broadcaster also spoke about her work and family and her ChildLine charity — and her planned new charity, Silver Line, which will address issues concerning the elderly.

“I am getting a strange sort of deja vu,” she said. “Twenty-one years ago I was the keynote speaker at organisations talking about child abuse. Now I am being invited to speak about older people.”

ChildLine had helped more than 2.7 million children over the past 26 years. Silver Line would be an umbrella referral organisation offering a helpline and general information.

Asked about ageism, she said the swinging 60s had changed things. “Before the 60s elders had a respected place in society —my grandmother was definitely the matriarch of our family. The 60s saw the shift to the young.”

Anne Frank link earns VIP tour

Zoe Winograd — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:04:45 +0100

Pupils of Immanuel College in Bushey received a special tour of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam thanks to student Tali Blitz’s connection to the Frank family.

It was the 12-year-old’s great-grandmother, Sientie Blitz, who introduced Anne’s father, Otto Frank, to Miep Gies, who helped to hide the family. Mrs Blitz was mentioned in the Diary of Anne Frank as Mrs Blik, Anne’s nickname for her.

When a teacher explained this to a guide, the group was given access to parts of the house normally not open to the public.

Pupils saw the office area where Mrs Blitz met Otto Frank. They were also allowed into the kitchens and gardens.
As a thank you, they presented the museum with a copy of the school siddur, in which Tali had written a message and attached a photo of Mrs Blitz.

Tali said the experience “helped me not only to feel a close connection with my great-grandmother, but also with the story of Anne Frank. When I gave the museum the prayer book, it occurred to me that Anne probably didn’t know most of the prayers or a lot about being Jewish.”

While in Amsterdam, the pupils also visited the Jewish Museum and the old Jewish quarter.

Great Egg-citement as store reopens

Anna Sheinman — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:01:11 +0100

Long-established Stamford Hill grocery the Egg Stores will reopen on Sunday morning after a major blaze last August.

“We’re having a l’chaim,” explained co-owner Erica Friedlander. “We’re going to have popcorn and balloons and candy floss for the children. And, of course, shmaltz herring. Everyone will come down, I hope.”

The Egg Stores opened in 1948 and the business has been owned by the Friedlander family since 1969. It is famous for its pickled herring — Mrs Friedlander makes 13 varieties. There are also dips and salads, a bakery section and wine selection.“It was an old traditional shop and we’ve modernised,” she added. “Everything is new.”