London

Long-time Nightingale chief is to stand down

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:10:19 +0100

Nightingale Hammerson chief executive Leon Smith will step down at the end of 2013 after more than 40 years with the care home charity. He will become an external ambassador for Nightingale.

Mr Smith has helped the charity to become a leader in the provision of dementia care — Nightingale’s state-of-the-art £6.5 million dementia wing was opened in 2011. The search for his successor is under way.

“Nightingale Hammerson has been a huge part of my life and after 40 years I feel that it is time to hand over the reins to someone else,” Mr Smith said. “My new role is going to be very important in the coming period.”

Leaders promote vaccination after 41 cases of measles reported

Anna Sheinman — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:49:19 +0100

Strictly Orthodox rabbis met a senior Hackney public health official on Thursday to discuss the rising number of measles cases in the community.

Statistics released by Public Health England (PHE) this week record 41 cases of measles within the capital’s strictly Orthodox population since the beginning of the year.

A PHE spokesperson said the cases were predominantly in Hackney and Haringey, the boroughs covering Stamford Hill and South Tottenham, with a few in Barnet. Low vaccination rates were to blame.

Thursday’s meeting was between Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregation ministers and the deputy director of public health for the City and Hackney, Jose Figueroa.

It was organised by leading Orthodox community figure Rabbi Avraham Pinter, who is urging senior rabbis “to strongly endorse the MMR to their communities. We are taking it very seriously.”

Rabbi Pinter attributed a combination of factors to the MMR vaccine being taken up by an estimated 70 to 80 per cent of the community — a 90 per cent take-up is considered necessary to prevent an outbreak.

“First, the perception that measles is a ‘healthy illness’. It’s not seen as a great danger to health. What people don’t realise is that for most people it’s nothing, but you might get a person who is pregnant or elderly. We need to do that education.”

He further cited the now discredited autism scare over vaccinations and practical problems particularly relevant to the strictly Orthodox. “When you’ve got a large family, waiting times in surgeries is an issue.

“There has been tremendous coverage of encouragement in the Charedi press but it has been soft encouragement. That’s why I’m going down the line of asking the rabbis,” Rabbi Pinter added.

Bone marrow match found for Sharon Berger

Anna Sheinman — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:15:03 +0100

A bone marrow donor has been found for critically ill Harrow grandmother Sharon Berger after a four month campaign by family and friends to find a match in the Jewish community.

Ms Berger suffers from Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a malfunction of the bone marrow in producing blood cells. “I have had no immune system for six years,” she said.

She has been in hospital since December, undergoing chemotherapy.

Her children Jonni and Caroline put in place a huge campaign, using the Twitter hashtag #Spit4Mum, encouraging Askenazi Jews to sign up to the Anthony Nolan bone marrow donor register.

Due to confidentiality rules nothing is known about the donor except that he or she is not a 100 per cent match.

Jewish Historical Society of England - Presidential Lecture

Jewish Historical Society of England — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:11:14 +0100

Full time marks start of Chingford's future

Jay Grenby — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:01:34 +0100

Less than a year after being under threat of closure, Highams Park and Chingford Synagogue has upgraded to full member status of the United Synagogue.

The move was a “no brainer”, said Steven Strum, chair of a new and energetic board of management. Despite the reservations of some of the old guard, “once we looked into the matter, it was an obvious decision for our board.

“We will now have the strength of the United Synagogue around us, making us better equipped to grow our community. Already our financial affairs have been straightened out and we are now in a really good position financially speaking.”

Founded just over 80 years ago, the shul’s current membership is around 200.

Backed by his fellow board members and part-time minister Rabbi Avromi Kahan, Mr Strum aims to put on a range of new activities to enhance community spirit and encourage more people to attend services. Shabbat morning service numbers are up and a communal Seder, Highams Park’s first in 30 years, attracted more than 50 participants.

“We are moving forward and I will be doing everything in my power to keep the shul going,” Mr Strum added.

Antiques Supper with special guest Paul Atterbury from the Antiques Roadshow

Judith Spevock — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:57:00 +0100

High Tea

Judith Spevock — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:50:25 +0100

Footballing rabbi scores highly with Richmond Synagogue

Jay Grenby — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:24:08 +0100

A rabbi who was once on the books of the Reading and Swindon Town football academies has met Richmond Synagogue’s selection goals.

Rabbi Jonny Hughes and his wife Chana, currently the associate rabbinic couple at Hendon Synagogue, start at Richmond in November, where they will lead a congregation of over 200 members. The number of young families is growing and there is a thriving cheder.

The appointments, by almost unanimous vote, were made almost a year to the day of the departure of the previous incumbent, Rabbi Yossi Ives.

Originally from Reading, Rabbi Hughes has an unlikely background for an Orthodox minister. His mother is Jewish, his father is not and he only came to Judaism at university, where he threw himself into exploring his religion.

He met his wife in Israel, where he studied at yeshivah after gaining his law degree. Rabbi Hughes is also a songwriter and his footballing past will endear him to many among the Richmond membership. “Unusually he probably knows more about the game than the majority of his congregants”, said Richmond chair Jon Katzauer.

The rebbetzen is a graphic designer who holds a teaching degree and is studying for another in psychology. The Hughes are in their early 30s and have two young children.

Describing Rabbi Hughes as “a rising star”, Mr Katzauer went on: “Rabbi and Rebbetzen Hughes are possessed of personalities and philosophies so well suited to the community. We did not want to settle for an average rabbinic couple. With these two, we don’t have to.”

Rabbi Hughes looked forward “to helping to build Richmond into a thriving centre of Jewish life in south-west London”.

Shechita Board picks new boss

Simon Rocker — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:42:21 +0000

The London Board for Shechita, which licences kosher meat for the capital, has appointed a new chief executive.

Mark Goldwater, managing partner of QaulitySolicitors and a board member of Edgware’s Yeshurun Federation Synagogue, will take up the post in July. He succeeds David Rose, who is making aliyah after seven years at the LBS and who will remain as interim chief executive until summer.

Mr Goldwater said: “This is a huge opportunity to serve the community, and the advantage of first-class kosher produce is highlighted by the recent problems in other sectors of the food chain.”

New address for next Chief Rabbi?

Simon Rocker — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:37:37 +0000

United Synagogue president Stephen Pack said this week that no decision had been taken on the future of the Chief Rabbi’s residence in Hamilton Terrace after being quizzed on whether it would be put up for sale.

At a US Council meeting on Monday, St John’s Wood Synagogue representative Ronnie Lossos called for the retention of the premises in the prestigious St John’s Wood street.

Chief Rabbis have lived in Hamilton Terrace for more than a century, and at the current address since 1948.

But there has been speculation that Chief Rabbi-elect Ephraim Mirvis might opt to live further north-west in the Hampstead Garden Suburb-Hendon area, while the US would like to sell the St John’s Wood site and invest some of the proceeds in other projects.

Mr Lossos said after the meeting: “Hamilton Terrace is a particularly good address. It’s a lovely home with good entertainment rooms.

“In the same way, the Archbishop of Canterbury has Lambeth Palace and the Prime Minister Downing Street. They wouldn’t sell Buckingham Palace and say, ‘Your Majesty, you are going to have to move to Pimlico.’”

Mr Lossos said that while Hamilton Terrace was within walking distance of several United synagogues, it was still able to provide the Chief Rabbi with some degree of privacy to receive high-level guests. That might not be the case if he was based in a more populous Jewish locality. “If David Cameron came to dinner, everyone would know,” he said.

Mr Pack said on Wednesday: “We are still considering all the options, including the sale, retention and development of Hamilton Terrace.”

Several years ago Mr Lossos helped to raise around £4.5 million from donors to buy the freehold of the Hamilton Terrace residence and to renovate it shortly before the lease ran out it.

Conrad Morris, one of those donors, said the address was “the trademark for the Chief Rabbinate. It is important for the Chief Rabbi to have a West End address.”

Few of the Chief Rabbi’s meetings took place at his North Finchley offices, Mr Morris argued. “It would be a mistake from every point of view to give up ownership of the Hamilton Terrace site. I can’t see people shlepping to Totteridge or Hendon to have meetings.”

He said it had also been a mistake not to have put the St John’s Wood property into a separate trust to preserve it for the Chief Rabbinate.

Meanwhile, the United Synagogue has this week advertised for a chief executive to run the office of the next Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis.

The candidate will be expected to bring “diplomacy and discretion” to the position as well as “personal gravitas which commands respect”.