Letters to the Editor, 11 August 2023

I credit who I am today, to many inspirational madrichim, who allowed me to challenge my beliefs and opinions in a safe, yet far-removed-from-reality, field in Somerset. It was informal educational as it should be: guided, yet not prescribed, fun yet controlled, emotional and free. There were plenty of hazards, minimal outings, basic camping conditions, usually terrible weather and rarely decent food. They were always the best 2 weeks of the year, every year, between ages 11 and 15 years old, because of the people, discussions and atmosphere created.

As a madricha I wanted to give back . I never felt like it was a sacrifice or hard work. I gained as much from my chanichim (campers) as I had done from my madrichim (leaders), only a few years earlier. I made mistakes and I learnt from them. I loved the team work and unity we created, it was like an extended family.

Youth movement camps are not holidays or activity residentials. They are unique, life-changing, self-developing, formative experiences that cannot be recreated in a class room or home.

Dr Sarah Barsam
London N3

A week rarely passes without you reporting instances of antisemitism. By reporting, in detail, with pictures, the case of a father, borrowing a helicopter to “rescue” his child from the grasp of a filthy camp with cruel mentors, that this story will be picked up by the national press with consequential unfavourable opinions which create antisemitism?  Norfolk is not Afghanistan, they have roads, and on good days, trains, but does the public need to be fed by a display of excess?

Barrington Black
London NW3

My wife, and I set up and ran Rainbow Summer School, a Jewish residential summer camp in Littlehampton in the 1980s.Our approach was predicated on assuring children’s safety and well-being, long before they became watchwords of the 21st century.

We had rigorous supervisory training, a full and exciting programme, and links with the local authority who would inspect and advise on our food and hygiene procedures. 

We were also very concerned that there was no guidance or support from anywhere, enabling anyone to set up and run residential summer schools or camps - and so, together with PGL, we helped to set up a nascent advisory body that has become the British Activity Holiday Association.

It is now time for the community to regulate the various camps to assure parents and carers that their children are safe, and activities take place that are well run, exciting and supervised - and all in an environment that is clean and follows both health and safety standards as well as Kashrut where appropriate; Pikuach is already well regarded in the formal education sector and could be used to expand into the informal Jewish education sector, allowing parents and carers to rest assured that most precious children are comprehensively cared for, as they are in many of the existing schemes such as Noam, RSY and JLGB, providing exemplars for a framework of inspection and in due course avoiding the need for flying rescues in the future.

Laurie Rosenberg
Woodford Green, Essex

Oppenheimer

David Baddiel  (‘Oppenheimer liked to pretend he wasn’t Jewish — like the film’July 28) seems to believe that only a Jewish actor can play a Jewish character who has experienced antisemitism, and that no feeling of Oppenheimer or Einstein's experience of antisemitism comes through in the film. It is very difficult to bring over in film one's inner reaction to antisemitism or some other great internal hurt -the reaction is within, not overt. In an olden day biopic you could have a scene of the two meeting on the street saying ''Hi Einstein'' ''Hi Oppenheimer'' -'' Any antisemitism this week?''. I hardly think that would pass muster today.

 In any film the script is sacrosanct, and if there is nothing in the script requiring the characters to express their feelings about their antisemitic experiences, you can not blame that on the actors because they are not Jewish. I am sure that if there had been, the admirable actors would have brought those feelings over. They do not have to be Jewish, nor do they have to be atomic scientists with immense mathematical skills, to play their parts. Mr.Baddiel should watch the film for the history it tells; accusing it of being another example of antisemitism is not justified.

Alan Schneider
London W13

Coutts and Co.

Alex Carlile (August 4) chooses to defend Dame Alison Rose from the consequences of her actions. He does so, invoking in some arcane way the memory of his grandfather z"l who was murdered by the Nazis and his father z"l who was a GP. Personally, I fail to see the connection.

The bottom line with Dame Alison ultimately has little to do with how Coutts treated Nigel Farage and whether you agree with his politics or not is irrelevant. Like most people, I want to feel secure in the knowledge that my private confidential information isn't the subject of idle chatter by ANY employee of an organisation I entrust it to. I would expect that any such employee found to have breached this most basic rule of banking trust would be summarily dismissed for gross misconduct. That the offender in this case was the CEO, and that she has been allowed to resign rather than be sacked, just makes it so much worse.

Brian Gedalla 
London N3

Eda Spinka [JC, letters 4th August] put the case against the protests better than most

The proposed judicial reforms in Israel has advocates and opponents. Both may have legitimate arguments but none justify the animosity and the incitement to civil disobedience as called for by leaders of the protests, especially as many suspect that they are politically motivated. Whatever the faults with the proposed reforms, they are not remotely as damaging as are the demonstrations, the bitterness and the schism in Israel.  What is more, the way those leaders are pitting the ‘street’ against the Knesset is the REAL threat to Israel’s democracy

Joshua Rowe
Manchester

Bagel matters

When I joined my father's deli, Panzers, in 1963 people schlepped to the East End for a bagel; we sold a few dozen each day. Our supplier for many many years was Mr Cohen, who had a bakery in Brick Lane. A Damon Runyonesque character, an Israeli who never mastered the English language, who finally lost his bagel profits at the race track. However, his legacy is inestimable, he spawned a whole generation of Israeli bakers who opened their own shops all over NW London, naturally using traditional baking methods. Panzers sells over 6000 bagels a week, supplied by the next generation of Israeli bakers. Amongst the cognoscenti today, the conversation is not about Warburtons ersatz products, but which bakery has the best bagels.

Peter Vogl. NW3

Josh Glancy is quite right to point out the horror of typical supermarket bagels and to compare them unfavourably (unflavourably?) with Golders Green, Temple Fortune, Pinner, and Prestwich bagels. But why omit Leeds as the home of the Prince of Bagels from Zermansky's Bakery? Nothing in London and probably elsewhere remotely compares with the bagels I used to luxuriate in from Chapeltown Road Street Lane or Moortown Corner. His omission is all the more surprising as Rakusen's is based in Leeds - and Marks and Spencer  Asda; and Morrison's all started in Leeds or Bradford

Stuart Killen
London N20

Yiddische president

Hadley Freeman writes that the Jew who has come closest to the Presidency is the husband of the current Vice-President.

Correspondent Ze'ev Portner writes that a closer one was Al Gore's running mate, who, if Gore had won and then become incapacitated, would have become President.

In 1964, however, a Jew would have become President if he had simply won the election. The Republican nominee was Barry Goldwater, a conservative, who lost to Lyndon Johnson.

Goldwater supported environmental protection, civil rights, gay rights, and the right to an abortion. He served in the Air Force during World War II, leaving as a major general, and afterwards desegregated the service units and public schools under his jurisdiction, years before this became law. He wrote (on his own) eight books, including The Conscience of a Conservative. He and his wife were married for fifty years.

As for the difference between him and the current Republican contenders for the nomination--what can one say? One can only weep.

Rhoda Koenig
London SW2

Your correspondence about how close Jews have come to the Oval Office reminded me of the fictitious story of the inauguration of the first Jewish President of the USA. As he was being sworn in, his Mother, seated in the front row, turned to her neighbour and said "You know...his brother 's a doctor"

Peter Fineman 
Barrow Street, Wilts