Whitefield’s woes

We are writing in order to clear up some inaccuracies in recent reports concerning the redundancy process currently taking place in Whitefield Hebrew Congregation. 

We are aware of how difficult this process has been for the rabbi and chazan and their families. The process has also been very difficult for the executive members, who are simply acting in the best interests of WHC within the financial constraints to which it is subject, and in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law. 

It was never the intention of the executive or board for this process to become so public. The executive has always sought to conduct the redundancy process and consultations as respectfully as possible. For the record, it was not the executive who proposed that the constitution be altered so that the employment of the clergy be decided in a public forum. 

This amendment to the constitution was proposed by representatives of the clergy and on their behalf. As it has now been passed and accepted into the constitution, the executive must respect its requirements. 

There have also been a number of references to the finances of Whitefield Hebrew Congregation and the salaries of the rabbi and chazan. Some of these have not been accurate. The executive will be putting forward accurate financial information at the SGM next week. Indeed, they would provide detailed information of the clergy’s respective remuneration packages, if the clergy would permit it, so that the membership has the full picture in order to make an informed decision. 

We ask all members that matters are conducted in good faith and with due respect to all those involved.

The executive, Whitefield Hebrew Congregation
Manchester

After growing up in Whitefield Hebrew Congregation, it is painful to see how our community is so divided. Rabbi Aryeh Masher states (JC, September 13) that “many shul members and their families gain educationally, spiritually and religiously” from the kollel. We should expect more than “many”; we should expect “all”.  

Our batmitzvah was held in a side room, on a Sunday, where we read a speech without ever seeing our batmitzvah parshah. We should expect more than this for our daughters. We should expect religious education and fulfilment for every member of our community, male or female. We should be striving for a community where everyone has a place, where everyone has a voice, and where children look forward to coming to shul for its engaging and educational programming and where Torah knowledge is seen as something for every person to aspire to. If it is felt that the rabbi is not providing this, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere. 

Abi Hartuv and Olivia Remington
Manchester

JC’s “weaponising” stance

Your report (JC September 13) that Sara Conway has stepped down as the Labour candidate for Finchley and Golders Green is most distressing. She seemed an outstanding candidate and we were looking forward to voting for her,  as were many others. 

It is even more disturbing that she seems to have been hounded out for telling the truth. In her interview, she does not deny the existence of some antisemitism in the Labour Party, but claims the issue has been “weaponised”. Ironically, the backlash against her that triggered her resignation validates her point, and echoes the bullying behaviour that has been claimed in some reports of antisemitism against Labour Party members. 

There can be no doubt that the egregiously far-right editor of the Jewish Chronicle has indeed weaponised the issue of antisemitism to undermine a Labour Party that he has campaigned against long before Jeremy Corbyn became leader, indeed when the party was led by a Jew. 

The society he advocates worships Mammon and no-holds-barred support for an Israel that is lurching towards the far-right utopia of his dreams. It is the epitome of the idol worship condemned in the Haftorah we shall shortly hear on  Yom Kippur morning (Isaiah 57: 14-58): “Surely this is the fast I choose… Surely you should divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the moaning poor to your home.” Or as Shelley put it, recycled by Jeremy Corbyn, “for the many not the few”.

(Professors) Robert Reiner and Joanna Benjamin
London N3

Charedim, monks and nuns 

When Nathan Jeffay quotes (JC September 13)  a Charedi shopkeeper thinking that a Charedi-free Israeli government will, “harm the basic rights of Charedim,” what are these? 

Israel affords freedom of worship to all. It cannot afford aristocrats. Where is it written that the basic rights of the pious include being excused army service for life? Where are the pious excused work supporting their families and paying tax?  Certainly not in the Tenach;  and the Talmud only mentions excused work for full-time study in the Kalla months of Adar and Ellul, which were and are agricultural down-time anyway. 

Israel and the Charedim in particular would do well to take caution from the way Spain’s excess of monks and nuns and inquisition thought-police did for that country’s lack of progress till recently. Study, yes, but work and support your family first, as in Genesis 1, and serve in the common defence.

Frank Adam
Prestwich

Singled out by today’s shuls 

I agree with every word S. L. Conway wrote (Where can kids go? Letters, September 13).

When I was a teenager, also many years ago, my friends and I would immediately look for the Social & Personal page to decide which event to go to.  There were dances at Jewish youth clubs like Maccabi, as well as cultural and sports activities.  Now, there is nowhere for young Jewish people to meet, and there are also few places where divorced, separated or widowed Jewish people can socialise.  

Synagogues could help by allowing their facilities to be used by Jewish people, regardless of whether or not they are Orthodox.

Vera Price
Kenton, Harrow

Thrilling result, great cause

I was thrilled to see the front-page story (JC September 13) about Camp Simcha mum Sarah Dafner, who is trying to raise £300,000 to set up a hyperbaric chamber in Manchester.

Sarah’s son Tzvi suffered severe brain damage at just three months old, after contracting influenza and going into cardiac arrest. It left him unable to respond to stimuli, cortically blind, in constant pain and having seizures that lasted all day and night.

We have supported the family with night-time respite, a dedicated family liaison officer and many other services but life has been unbelievably difficult for them. Then, in 2017, they started taking Tzvi to a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in Morecambe — a two-hour round trip – but the impact was worth it. After just 20 sessions Tzvi smiled for the first time in three years. 

His seizures decreased dramatically and over the course of treatments his sight has improved and he has started responding vocally and interacting. Our family liaison officer has been to the chamber with Tzvi and his mum and seen first-hand how happy and relaxed he is there.

Now Sarah is fundraising to set up a chamber in Manchester, one which can be used by the whole community because hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to help so many conditions — Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke patients, people having chemotherapy, heart issues — the list goes on. If successful, what she is doing could make a huge difference not just to Tzvi and his family but to so many others.

I wish the family huge success with this fundraising campaign and hope the community will get behind them.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hyperbaric19

Neville Goldschneider
Chief executive, Camp Simcha