Jewish rail employees given platform to express their faith

She said the network had acquired 100 members within the past year, and that around 30 per cent of them were non-Jewish.

Since it began, the JRN has hosted a number of events in the Jewish calendar, including a talk on the Holocaust Memorial Day in the House of Lords, which was so well attended that they had to create a waiting list.

Ebony (bottom row, right) in the House of Lords for an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (Photo: Ebony Soltani-James)[Missing Credit]

Ebony said the aims of the JRN were to bring people together, educate them about Judaism and give members a space to embrace their faith. This was most recently brought to light at a Rosh Hashanah event.

“We got together online and asked people to share family traditions. Someone told us they used to collect honey from everywhere they went to make honey cake.

“We explained what Rosh Hashanah was and the traditions of the New Year. We even showed the shofar to allies who didn’t know what it was, and we all dipped some apple in honey.”

The formation of the Jewish Rail Network has inspired similar groups for other minorities in the industry, said Ebony, including Sikhs in Rail and a network for Hindus.

Originally from London, but now living in the north-west of England, Ebony grew up in a mixed-faith household, with a Jewish mother and an Iranian Muslim father.

“When I was younger, I always went to my grandparents for Jewish festivals, but I didn’t think much of it. We would just go there for a meal…I used to tell people I was Jew-ish,” she said.

Ebony running the London Marathon for Shaare Zedek (Photo: Ebony Soltani-James)[Missing Credit]

But recently, Ebony has been indulging her interest in Judaism and the Jewish community and become involved with Chabad. She even went to shul for Rosh Hashanah for the first time this year.

“I need this at this time. It’s meant so much to me, learning about my faith. It’s the community, it’s the connections.”

Ebony said that while she had lost certain friends by being vocal about being Jewish on social media platforms, she has also gained many through becoming more involved in the community.

“I ran a marathon for [Israeli medical centre] Shaare Tzedek. My grandparents were very into charity, supporting Shaare Tzedek for years. I want to keep that going. Now I know the importance of community.”

The marathon to raise funds for the hospital was one of several Ebony has run, including one for a homeless charity, when, she said, someone verbally abused her for wearing a Magen David.

She said some members of JRN were afraid to openly identify as Jewish, but she wasn’t deterred from showcasing her faith within the industry.

Ebony recently produced an FAQ for the JRN newsletter, showing the differences between Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah, which she said was particularly well received, and for Chanukah, the network’s leaders were hoping to ask a rabbi to come online and give an overview of the festival.

As the group currently has no funding, with members paying for activities themselves, they are trying to obtain some form of charitable status.

In the meantime, the overall aim of the Jewish Rail Network remains the same, said Ebony – “to create that Jewish pride”.

To find out more about the Jewish Rail Network, click here