Love Langdon Week launches on Sunday to promote the educational charity which helps young Jews with mild-to-moderate learning difficulties. And Langdon has its own love story with the engagement of two of its residents, Ed Sholem and Shoshi Finn, who plan to marry at Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue in August.
Ed, 21, and Shoshi, 22, met in 2011 at Langdon’s residential college in Salford, the only one of its kind within the Jewish community.
Love blossomed and he proposed to his future bride on his 21st birthday. “I went to her flat with the ring all ready. But when I got to the door I got nervous. I saw the milk outside and all I could do was give it to her. But when she went to the fridge, I knelt down on one knee and asked her.”
“When I said ‘yeah’ he was shaking,” interjected Shoshi, who works as a teaching assistant at Broughton Jewish Primary. Her brother Yaakov, ministerial assistant at Shenley Synagogue, will be among the officiants at the wedding. The couple plan to make their home in Manchester.
Ed is still studying and intends to pursue a career in catering. He owes his place at Langdon to the financial support of wider family after his local, Southend Council refused to fund him. “All I can say is thank you to my family.”
Mother of the bride Amanda Finn said that, with Langdon’s support, Shoshi had “surpassed everyone’s expectations. Ed and Shoshi are doing things that other young couples do, which we never thought would happen. It is a success story for the really good special education provided by the Jewish sector.”
Cherry Sholem said she never thought her son would marry. “When he told us he was thinking of proposing, we spoke to Langdon College who told us Ed and Shoshi did understand what they were doing. They are in love, what more can I say. It’s a dream. My husband and I don’t believe it’s happening.”
Shoshi added that the capacity for those such as her and Ed to lead normal lives should not be underestimated. “If you want to do something, work as hard as you possibly can to do it. Like the Paralympics, people just need the right training and to ignore all the negative comments.”
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