Woolf Institute raises close to £1m for new site in Cambridge

The Woolf Institute has announced that it has raised three-quarters of the £1 million required to move to a new purpose-built home in Cambridge.

This was reported at a London dinner this week to honour Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks and his contribution to interfaith relations.

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Ilford Jewish Primary shares site with Hindus

Ilford Jewish Primary staff and pupils will be sharing their Barkingside site with a school for Hindu children.

The Avanti Court Primary is set to open in September. As construction work on the new IJPS building at the nearby King Solomon campus will take at least a year, the primaries will share some facilities.

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Rain causes synagogue ceiling collapse

A large part of the ceiling at South West Essex and Settlement Reform Synagogue has collapsed, leaving rainwater to pour through a gaping hole in the 20-year-old prayer hall, flooding the floor and drenching seats. Scrolls, prayer books and other portable items were removed undamaged.

"The shul, sadly, is unusable," said congregation chair Jan Mortlock.

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Borts quits Newcastle Reform

Newcastle Reform's Rabbi Barbara Borts has resigned because she "wants to move on".

Rabbi Borts has given six months' notice to the 150-member congregation she has served on a part-time basis since 2008.

"I have had a good time here," she said. "They are a great bunch of people. If they need help I will continue to help them. I am not leaving them in the lurch."

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Keeping check of the ups and downs in promotions

Although Pesach is still a fortnight away, some of the best supermarket offers have ended. But other reductions are being introduced.

At Tesco, for example, Kedem kiddush wine is now being retailed for £4.50 - in line with specialist outlets - having been on offer for £3.

However, its Kedem grape juice, priced at £2 until around a week ago, has now been reduced to £1.34.

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Keeping check of the ups and downs in promotions

Although Pesach is still a fortnight away, some of the best supermarket offers have ended. But other reductions are being introduced.

At Tesco, for example, Kedem kiddush wine is now being retailed for £4.50 - in line with specialist outlets - having been on offer for £3.

However, its Kedem grape juice, priced at £2 until around a week ago, has now been reduced to £1.34.

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Ofsted praise

Ofsted has rated Liverpool's King David Kindergarten as "good" in all aspects.

An inspector found that the 74-pupil unit - which moved in the autumn from Harold House community centre to the £25 million King David campus - provided a "vibrant and challenging environment, giving children easy access to a rich and varied range of resources both indoors and outdoors".

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Soup's off over shortage

Chicken soup may be off tonight's menu because of a temporary shortage of hens in kosher butchers.

London Board for Shechita executive director David Rose attributed the shortage partly to a change in EU regulations concerning the care of egg-laying birds.

"Jewish suppliers are suffering more than others as it is difficult to get the hens.

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Fowl play

Kedassia, the kashrut arm of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, is to cut the cost of poultry by 50p a kilo in the four weeks before Pesach.

"We want to relieve the heavy financial burden on families," said UOHC executive co-ordinator Chanoch Kesselman. "The bills run up as families buy in more.

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