London’s newest Moishe House – a hub of activities for young adults – has sprung into action despite the lockdown.
Four residents moved into their new home in Hackney – the fourth Moishe House in London – shortly before the national quarantine came into effect in March and are now launching their digital programme.
They were due to run an interactive art and text session on Thursday, with a Zoom cookalong planned for Sunday week.
It is the second Moishe House to have opened within a year, joining South London’s first in Clapham, which started in 2019, and others in Kilburn and Belsize Park.
The expansion in the capital has been made possible by the support of the Genesis Philanthropy Group.
There are more than 100 Moishe Houses across the world, where a group of young people live together and organise events for their peer in ret urn for subsidised rent.
The Hackney quartet said, “Now that we are moving into the next stage of our life we want to create a Moishe House which offers the same opportunities to engage with Judaism on a cultural, religious and social level that we have enjoyed.
“While North-West London is considered to be the centre of Jewish life in London, Hackney attracts Jewish students and Young Professionals when they first move out of their family home.”
Fran Kurlansky, 23 works for Liberal Judaism's youth movement, LJY Netzer, as does Rosa Slater, 22; Lauren Keiles, 23, has joined the the Board of Deputies as community engagement officer; Joshua Powell, 23, co-founded with Ms Kurlansky a Progressive Jewish students society at Edinburgh University.