Life Magazine - 2022 by Jewish News

Magazine LIFE Rosh Hashanah 2022 Lord Levy How to fundraise £1billion Shylock Unplugged Tracy-Ann Oberman and Howard Jacobson Survivor or victim? A father’sbereavedtruth ISRAEL WONDER Life-changing technology and the new Eilat PLUS 100 years of Disney Charlotte Mendelson 10CC at Somebody50 Feed Phil Food, fashion, travel, books

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Whether it be choosing florals, recommending suppliers, or designing bespoke menus we say “yes ” so you can say “I do ”.

Editor Brigit Grant brigit@jewishnews.co.uk

Features Editor Walters

Art Spender News

Jewish

analysing Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice And who could resist Lord Levy’s tips on raising £1 billion? Certainly not Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer. If we’ve learnt anything these past weeks it is that life – no matter how testing – goes on. May your own life be filled with good health and happiness.

020

Chag sameach!

020 8148 9705 sales@jewishnews.co.uk FRONT COVER Photograph by Adam Soller HE HERE!PAWSKNOWNOTLIFE,SICILIAN‘SHELOCK’:SAIDTHEMERCHANTREVISITEDDREAMBUTASWEIT 10CC AT 50 64 RESTAURANTROUND-UP 5710897 MERCHANT 33 HERE! FASTFASHION

INSIDE ROSH HASHANAH 2022

Editor’s letter

As we planned this edition of Life Magazine, we never, never imagined that it would include a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.

The enormity of her passing and the outpouring of grief, nationally and internationally, is impossible to reflect, but we hope our chosen photograph respectfully honours her history as monarch and mother of our King. Both roles conjure up huge emotion so soon after

Editor Richard Ferrer Contributors Jenni NicoleAlexFrancineDebbieFrazerCollinsWolfiszGalbinskiLampert 21

Director Diane

her funeral, and also connect to Yizkor on Yom Kippur, when we remember loved ones. It is certainly a focus for me, since losing my mother, Carole, a year ago, and for bereaved father Mariano Janin, whose losses are indescribable. We are so grateful to him for sharing his tragic story. Phil Rosenthal, host of Somebody Feed Phil, also reflects on losing his parents, but Life is also about the joy of more frivolous things – fashion, food and travel. Theatre is a highlight, with cover stars Tracy-Ann Oberman and Howard Jacobson

Brigit

Designers Daniel Elias John SarahNichollsRothberg

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“The Queen pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the principles of constitutional government. As we now mark, with gratitude, a promise most faithfully fulfilled, I am determined, with God’s help and with yours, to follow that inspiring example."

Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - 2022

King Charles III

GIVE YOUR LEGACY WHERE IT WILL MAKE A LASTING DIFFERENCE

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Without your vital support many of our projects would not be possible. A gift in your Will to Technion will ensure that groundbreaking discoveries can continue, you can make a difference, be a part of the future and have an everlasting memory of you for generations to come. Technion’s science and technology is opening new frontiers and creating novel products to the beneﬁt of Israel and mankind.

“Remember, Little Bird, in the world to come, you will not be asked: ‘Why were you not George’ or ‘Why were you not Perkin?’, but ‘Why were you not Catherine?’” ‘Be yourself’ is the powerful life lesson that shapes Birdy’s life. If it is delivered by a Jewish character in the film, Dunham has done her job.

In Beverly Hills, Kyle Richards, who converted and is married to Mexican Jewish realtor Mauricio Umansky, closed her flagship Kyle by Alene Too boutique, but doesn’t appear to have su ered as she shows o her new Colorado home in the new season on Hayu. Then there’s Dorit Kemsley, also of Beverly Hills, who is married to London-born tycoon Paul aka PK, who is apparently about to appear in the Channel 4 show Selling Super Prime, which will pitch six wannabe brokers against one another in the cut-throat world of multimillion pound real estate. No date for that as yet, but Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 3 starts on 29 September and has our favourite Chicago-drawl princess Meredith Marks, who is allegedly leaving friends-turned-foes in the past and focusing her energy on hosting a fashion show to raise awareness around mental health. Mazeltov!

Perfect hospitality

Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky

Her film, Catherine Called Birdy, is set in 1290 and revolves around Lady Catherine, aka Birdy, who finds ingenious ways to see o potential suitors chosen by her financially destitute, greedy father, Sir Rollo (Fleabag’s Andrew Scott). Dunham’s screenplay is adapted from the book by Karen Cushman, a Jewish American author. She researched medieval Jewry who feature in Birdy’s tale and stay at her home while dispelling the myth that Jews had horns and were devil’s workers. Birdy even disguises herself as a Jew and leaves with them, only to encounter an old Jewish women who tells her:

IT’S ALLCOMINGNEW TO YOU

Meredith Marks

Paul and Dorit

Lauren Simon (Stone)

For as long as we can remember, Working Title has been delivering films that have become ‘Desert Island’ favourites. Four Weddings & A Funeral, Love Actually, Bridget Jones, Atonement and on the list goes. Eric Fellner is the producer/co-chairman at the helm alongside Tim Bevan and their next release is directed by Girls’ creator Lena Dunham.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 9

Streaming on Amazon Prime from 7 October. Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman is published by Macmillan Children’s Books, priced £6.99.

Twenty minutes up the road with loads of parking –your guests will love you for making your function at Hatfield House. Set in stunning, tranquil grounds, this famous Jacobean country house was built in 1485 and was the childhood home of Elizabeth I. It’s a beautiful Tudor palace with wonderful gardens and is absolutely perfect for intimate or large weddings (up to 250 guests). hatfieldhousehospitality.co.uk

FULL MARKS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Her aroundfilm,Lady disguises

Birdy Fly

So many of the women in the Real Housewives franchise are Jewish, including Cheshire’s Lauren Simon, who is in series 15 of the northern-based saga on ITVBe. Lauren le the show for a while during her divorce, but her online store, laurenstonecollections. com, has a pet shop and a human shop where her own name fragrance is sold.

A GLIMPSE OF WHAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT THIS NEW YEAR

Pottering on Daniel Radcli e (inset) plays the rebellious and unconventional ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in the singer’s own biopic, which – as yet – has no UK release. It’s a leap for the Harry Potter star but, having played a dead body in Swiss Army Man, the magic of the movies seems to have no logical limits for the Jewish star.

Netflix’s Stranger Things sparked a return to the charts for Kate Bush with Running Up That Hill, triggering memories of her Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte’s novel inspired Kate then and now director Frances O’Connor, who wrote the screenplay for Emily, which opens on 14 October. This is a controversial imagining of reclusive author Emily Brontë’s life, as it suggests she had a relationship with her father’s assistant. We can only surmise as to the truth, but the assistant, William Weightman, is portrayed by Oliver Mansour Jackson-Cohen (below), the actor son of designer Betty Jackson and her Egyptian Jewish husband, David Cohen, whose Orthodox family fled under the Nasser regime in the 1950s.One to watch, Oliver also stars in Prime Video’s Wilderness as an unfaithful husband, but as it isn’t released until 2023, get to know Oliver in Apple TV’s thriller Surface, in which he plays the spouse of a suicidal woman. Not cheery, but Oliver has been praised for his American accent.

Jason Isaacs barely has time to breathe, he is so busy. Still recognised as Lucius Malfoy by Potter fans, his real admirers are more acquainted with his more recent performances in The Death of Stalin and as the bereaved father of a boy killed in a school shooting in the award-worthy Fran Kranz’s Mass. See it on Sky Cinema Ever and catch the ever-moving Jason from 30 September in Mrs Harris Goes To Paris starring Lesley Manville. The big news about Isaacs is that he is about to play Cary Grant in Archie, a new drama about the Hollywood star (Archibald Leach was Grant’s real name). The jury (jewry?) has always been out as to whether Cary was or wasn’t Jewish, as he wasn’t raised by his real mother, Lilian, a Jewish seamstress who worked with his partly-Jewish father, Elias. The actor also donated money to Israel in the name of his “dead Jewish mother”, which is significant, and may be of interest to Jewish Liverpudlian actor Isaacs, who is very significant.

Date forthe diary

The pandemic changed the way we live and work, turning our homes into multifunctional spaces. Zoe Beaumont’s versatile art will bring an energising uplift to those spaces or, if you prefer, a sense of calm and peace. All requests are taken on board by Zoe, who creates bespoke art, her chosen career after working as a visual merchandiser in fashion and home retail for brands such as Topshop, Next, Miss Selfridge and M&S. No stranger to the customer journey, Zoe uses this experience to help and engage with clients over a commission. To create a bespoke work, Zoe meets clients, discusses ideas and creates a personalised design brief with mood board featuring colour palette, style and size and then photo updates as your art progresses.

Brontë Beat

Art From Your Heart

Oliver Mansour Jackson-Cohen, above, stars in Emily with Emma Mackey in the title role

The UK Jewish FilmFestival 2022 is on from10 to 20 November www.ukjewishfilm.org

10 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Making the art personal to each customer while informing them about what is en vogue and suits their home, Zoe also favours highly textured artwork that has depth and layers and uses a variety of methods to achieve it (mixing sand into paint, painting on top of glue or using multiple layers of colour that she scratches away to reveal different undercoats). Nature, urban landscapes, couture fashion and street style inspire her, as well as a spectrum of classical and contemporary artists but, while trending colours, metallic highlights and combinations of abstract artworks all play a part in her work, ultimately Zoe wants to give the customer something personal and meaningful to them. zoebeaumontart.co.uk

Billed as the first gay romantic comedy (surely there have been others?) Bros is about a witty, cynical podcaster navigating a relationship with an earnest, handsomeFeaturinglawyer.analmost entirely LGBTQ cast, the film is written by and stars Billy Eichner (left, with Luke Macfarlane), who had a Madonna-themed barmitzvah (clue!). The director, Nicholas Stoller, whose debut was Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is also of the faith and he co-wrote The Muppets with Jason Segel. Sounds like the sort of crowd we’d like to hang with and, as the film also stars Harvey Fierstein,we’re in good and woke company. Bros opens on 28 October.

What a carry on

Reel Bromance

Freud: The Painter And His Family runs until 29 January 2023. freud.org.uk

Sigmund Freud with grandsons Lucian Freud and Anton Walker pictured in 1938

A shofar workshop is just one of the activities occupying the children at Kerem, as they’ve also been learning about bees from a weekeeper. Not only important, it’s touching as the royal beekeepers knocked on each hive to inform them about the Queen’s passing, as is tradition.

Brace yourself. Steven Spielberg has made d a semi-autobiographical ﬁlm about growing up in Arizona, post-Second World War. With his brilliant remake of West Side Story still fresh in our minds, we can now look forward to The Fabelmans, a coming-of-age drama ﬁlm directed by Spielberg and co-written with Tony Kushner.

Freudian Slip

“He didn’t like emphasising the connection with his grandfather. When he was young and starting out, having a near relation who was world-famous was a bit of a handicap, lest people suspect he was trading on his connection.”

Old to New

SUITE LIFE

Close Encounter

“I was a nerd in those days. Outsider. Like the kid that played the clarinet in the band, which I did.” After the neighbourhood kids started chanting ‘The Spielbergs are dirty Jews”, Spielberg got his revenge by sneaking out of his room one night to smear peanut butter on their windows.TheFabelmans, which stars Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as Spielberg’s parents, Leah and Arnold, is also his love letter to cinema and looks at Hollywood’s Jewish ﬁlm-makers, of which he is now the most famous. But the director revealed that he long denied his Judaism because of the antisemitism he suffered. “I often told people my last name was German, not Jewish. I’m sure my grandparents are rolling over in their graves right now, hearing me say that.” The Fabelmans opens in the US in November, but sadly we have to wait until January.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 11

A young Steven Spielberg with his parents, Leah and Arnold

It’s all shofars go at Kerem school with Year 6 pupil JoJo getting ahead with a practice at Norrice Lea Synagogue in preparation for Rosh Hashanah.

To honour what would have been the artist Lucian Freud’s centenary year, an exhibition featuring family photographs, childhood drawings and illustrated letters is being displayed at the Freud Museum in Hampstead, the former home of his aunt

Running a business is enough of a challenge without having to run an o ice too. The Brentano Suite provides independently-run serviced o ices and luxury meeting rooms in Elstree, Whetstone, Finchley and Hampstead Garden Suburb. These are great spaces with great facilities creating a fabulous working environment at superb value with excellent customer service and no hidden costs. There is no long-term ‘lease’ commitment, meaning this a really flexible set-up, which is great for start-ups as well as longer established companies. If your business grows, there are spaces for up to 30 people and all centres have meeting rooms. If you work from home or on the road there’s a virtual o ice service with London telephone numbers, mail forwarding, call forwarding and much more. Serviced o ices are cost-e ective because the tenant pays the monthly rental and The Brentano Suite deals with everything else. Plus, Brentano suites are maintained to a high standard so you don’t have to factor in the cost or hassle that goes with a refurb. Taking a suite in a serviced o ice building also provides a great networking opportunity! www.thebrentanosuite.co.uk

The protagonist is Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring film-maker who discovers a shattering family secret, then explores how films can help him see the truth. Described by the auteur himself as being “immensely personal” and “very Jewish-centric”, the film also tackles the antisemitism Spielberg faced in school and has spoken about.

New year, new furniture? Not necessarily! Modern furniture is not for all and flat pack is only for the very brave and time-rich. If you have pieces in your home that look a bit tired, but you love or inherited them, you’ll be amazed at what professional furniture restorers can do. A J Brett in Archway is one of London’s leading antique furniture restorers particularly of 18th and 19th century, Art Deco and Biedermeier pieces. The company has been around since 1952 and has a client list that includes embassies, auction houses, antique dealers and interior designers as well as private customers. Highly skilled in all areas of furniture restoration, including French polishing, gilding, leather restoring, upholstery and cabinet making, if you do want something new, the cra speople can also design and build bespoke for you.

Kerem School

BornAnna.inBerlin to Jewish parents Lucie and Ernst – Ernst was the fourth child of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud – Lucian’s career as an artist spanned six decades and he o en used his family as a muse. A painting of his mother (right) is hung above the famous psychoanalyst’s couch in his grandfather’s Belsize Park study. Exhibition curator Martin Gayford told The Ham & High that the artist would not have approved of his work being shown in Sigmund’s former home.

The phrase ‘equity release’ o en gets touted in discussions about borrowing money later in life, but hands up if you actually understand what it means. As the market increasingly embraces later-life lending, awareness of what equity release is becomes much more important. It’s historically had a bad press and been seen as a product of last resort but fortunately, says Maxim Cohen (inset), founder and CEO of UK Adviser, this is starting to change as the market grows and receives more coverage. “What we have certainly seen of late is a rise in the number of 55 to 60-year-olds utilising lifetime mortgages for home improvements, says Maxim. “More needs to be done to promote this new, more positive image among brokers and customers, so they understand the benefits of later-life lending. The growth potential is considerable, thanks to the UK’s ageing population and the rising popularity of the Bank of Mum and Dad or the Bank of Nan and Grandad. It’s certainly the case that lots of jargon is involved, and the market can be fast-moving and complicated. So be sure to choose an equity release adviser who is on top of all this, with the necessary skills to make it easily legible for their clients.” ukadviser.co.uk

12 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Gotta Have Faith

Raised in Edgware, where his family had a Greek restaurant, he went on to sell 120 million records worldwide, donated his time and much of his wealth anonymously and was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. Sadly, it was George’s personal life, littered with legal battles and drug use, that made the headlines before he died at the age of 53, in December 2016.

One is a literary professor devoted to his wife and children and looking a er his aged mother. The other is a Jewish psychiatrist. The men are best friends. But this is Germany in 1933 and men can change. CP Taylor’s Good has been described as the definitive play about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre and it opens on 6 October at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Olivier awardwinner Elliot Levey (pictured, right) stars alongside David Tennant (le ) in a play that both had scheduled before the pandemic. Not to be missed.

When in Need

Samantha and Aron Brickman got married there last spring, having stayed there overnight while attending another wedding. “It is such a beautiful setting and the only one we looked at before booking,” says Samantha.

We will always regret the missed opportunity to talk to him about his bubbe when he released his debut album, Faith

Crowning Glory

to concertperformedon

Besties

George’s mother, Lesley Angold, to whom he was exceptionally close, was unaware of this for years, but George delighted Jewish listeners when he ‘outed’ himself , which is another reason to watch George Michael: Portrait of An Artist(Amazon Prime, Apple iTunes, a documentary about the late performer and Grammy Award-winner featuring his manager Simon Napier-Bell, fellow luminaries Stevie Wonder, Rufus Wainwright and Stephen Fry, as well as his long-time partner, Kenny Goss.

RELEASE ME

There have been many touching social media posts about the Queen. Some have been photos with relatives meeting her, others of people expressing their emotional response to her death. Actress and singer Gina Murray posted about feeling blessed to have met her and proud that her sister, Mazz Murray, was one of the last people to sing live for Elizabeth II when she performed Mamma Mia! at the Jubilee concert on 4 June. Mazz is still in Mamma Mia! and Gina is about to star in Ben Goddard’s new musical, TRIO, and bring out a solo album, but both accompanied their father, songwriter Mitch, to Buckingham Palace to get his CBE from the then Prince of Wales. It was heartening to see the new monarch, King Charles III, who has had many more close encounters with the public, meeting other Jewish people, including a then eightyear-old Dylan Pena. Do send more. brigit@jewishnews.co.uk

Needham House in Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, is a beautiful boutique hotel. Small is very beautiful – and surprisingly large, as a permanent on-site marquee means that you can hold an event for 350 people and even bring in a kosher caterer.

To sell or not to sell?

The situations facing our country may not be what we would like, but over the 85 years that Harrow-based Blacklers estate agents have been selling and letting properties, they have encountered many scenarios. If you are selling your property or looking to buy one, the highly experienced Blacklers team, who have a great deal of knowledge and listen to your requirements, will guide you through the process and this situation, at least, will be a smooth one. With a trading philosophy of professionalism, honesty and integrity, much of the business the company gets is through recommendations from satisfied clients and their families so you will feel at home with them. blacklersestateagents.co.uk

“We love how rural it is. The outside areas are stunning and the outdoor marquee is exquisite, with fairy lights outside and colour-changing lighting inside. There are so many spaces at the venue that it was easy for us all to get ready and for Aron and I not to see each other before the ceremony! The team was amazing and all worked together with us and our families to make it truly magical.” needhamhouse.co.uk

If you haven’t heard George Michael on Desert Island Discs, you really should. Recorded in September 2007, it was on this episode that he unexpectedly revealed he was halachically Jewish. His maternal grandmother, who was of the faith, married out and kept her background hidden in fear during the Second World War.

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Alex Galbinski speaks to Charlotte Mendelson about her latest book on finding the strength to push back against a familial tyrant

“He’s not meant to be someone you love,” says Mendelson of Ray. “Narcissists don’t really care about the e ect they have on others.”

“And so the story of the novel is about the tipping point – what happens when there are enough reasons to not tolerate it anymore? He’s not hitting her, but the emotional abuse is there and strong.”

“We’re famously happy, aren’t we. Aren’t we? And totally unique,” he says at a celebratory dinner ahead of a private view for his first solo show since the mid-nineties.Theyarecertainly not happy. A successful sculptor in her own right, 54-year-old Lucia has been avoiding answering a call from a gallery owner about an amazing opportunity because she has learnt not to seek too much critical success to avoid incurring Ray’s artistic jealousy. She is being emotionally abused, as are the other members of the family, but apparently no one can see it.

“We all know people who are in marriages or relationships where you think, ‘Why are you still with them?’ and it’s because he has so worn down Lucia’s confidence and courage.

“What fascinates me is how people have secrets and fierce driving emotions,” explains Mendelson, who is a gardening correspondent for The New Yorker. She is also a former book editor who now teaches creative writing “I like writing about families, because they’re fascinating and weird. It’s a very strange idea that you’ve got to all get on because you’re in the [same] house. And families are such a pressure cooker, because everyone has di erent things going on that they have to conceal from the others, even if it’s just, ‘I’m miserable’, ‘I hate my job, but you all depend on me’, or ‘really I want to be a ballet dancer’.

It’s the classic reason as to why Lucia, like any abused person, stays in a bad relationship. “However interesting, intelligent and potentially successful she is, that’s totally irrelevant,” continues Mendelson.

Mendelson

INTERVIEW

Jess has moved from London to Edinburgh to escape Ray. Unfortunately, she has become involved with Martyn, whom she isn’t sure she loves but who hangs o Ray’s every word. Leah is Ray’s “devotedly loyal” fan, who is at his beck and call, while Patrick has e ectively been banished to the garden, browbeaten.

There are, however, glimpses of a di erent future for all of the characters; the reader hopes they will follow their own path and no longer be cowed.

Mendelson, who grew up in Oxford and has two children from her former marriage to the writer Joanna Briscoe, went to a boarding school in Kent for “two miserable years” and then to Oxford University. She says she doesn’t feel English and doesn’t have a “drop of English blood” in her; her paternal grandfather was Polish and her paternal grandmother was “absolutely a Cockney who was born within the sound of Bow bells” whose own parents were Latvian.

“I’m always telling people that, despite my accent, I’m not posh. And people don’t really believe me, but anyone Jewish immediately gets it. If you’re Jewish, you can’t feel posh because you’re always sort of on the edge of things. So I feel English compared to being from another country, but I grew up with foreigners. I feelDespiteJewish-English.”currentlyworking on her sixth book, Mendelson says it never occurred to her that she could be a writer. But she acknowledges she is lucky: “I’ve had an incredibly good education and I grew up with lots of books, so I was always further on that journey than lots of people. It’s a cheesy thing that politicians say, but it is a privilege.”

he patriarch in Charlotte Mendelson’s latest book, The Exhibitionist , is a horrible character. An artist who had fleeting success years ago, Ray Hanrahan is now an odious and controlling narcissist who rules his long-suffering wife, Lucia, adult daughters Leah and Jess, and stepson Patrick, with not so much an iron fist but an acid tongue.

you’re be relaxed!” former the school and to

the suitcase metaphorically packed ‘just in case’. “Exactly!” she says.

UNHAPPYFAMILIES PLAYING

Mendelson, now 49, doesn’t feel she herself had much to hide growing up, but says about her younger self: “I was dramatically nerdy and very anxious about everything, which I now realise was more a kind of temperament and epigenetic trauma than anything, but at the time I thought there was something wrong withHerme.”maternal grandparents were Czech Hungarian and came to the UK in 1939. We discuss the concept of

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 15

“He has successfully made her think she isn’t. But then a combination of things makes her think, ‘hang on…’ In a small way, it’s about the felling of a tyrant.”Mendelson has said she most enjoys writing characters whose passionate and painful inner worlds clash with how they are expected to behave, and the characters in The Exhibitionist, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, are no exception.

“And then I’m interested in how that happens in the wider world too, so in other communities; or in this instance, it’s just a family, but it’s also the art world.”

“And, of course, it explains why so many Jews, but also so many people of other minorities, have issues with anxiety. Because if half of your grandparents’ family was murdered, you’re not going to be that relaxed!”

“I’m a complete mixture,” says Mendelson, describing herself as a secular Jew who likes the idea of being a member of a synagogue but isn’t sure “if I can quite make the commitment”.

• The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson is published by Mantle, priced £16.99 (hardback) and available now

MAROR BY Lavie Tidhar

wrote stories

FORBOOKSYOUR SHELFIE

ALEX GALBINSKI TAKES A LEAF THROUGH SOME COMPELLING NEW AND RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS

PERMISSION by Jo Bloom

THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Pnina Lahav

NOT SAFE FOR WORK by Isabel Kaplan

A BALLET OF LEPERS by Leonard Cohen

16 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk BOOKS

You are a young, ambitious, college-educated feminist. And you’ve just landed a job in television. To climb the ranks, you do whatever it takes: pull all-nighters, lean on your powerful mother’s contacts, stay in shape at cult-like fitness classes, secretly wear your boss’s Fitbit to improve his step count – and his temper.

Published by Michael Joseph, £16.99 hardback, available now

OLD TRUTHS AND NEW CLICHÉS by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Published by Apollo on 22 December 2022, £19.99

when factory history of

WHY NOT? by Mark Schiff

Set in Israel across four decades, Maror is a story of life and death, politics and history, and poses a central question – how do you build a nation? Cohen knows. It takes statesmen and soldiers, farmers and factory workers. But Cohen knows it also takes thieves, prostitutes and policemen. Cohen also knows nationbuilding demands sacrifice. And he knows where those bodies are buried. Lavie Tidhar draws on his own experience of growing up in Israel and on the nation’s turbulent history to tell an authentic story about creating your own identity. Published by Apollo, £20 hardback, available now

When rumours of an assault start to circle the o ice, and your close friend confesses her own disturbing experience, you know there is plenty to gain from staying silent. The compulsively readable novel about a young woman trying to succeed in Hollywood without selling her soul is the debut o ering from Isabel Kaplan, a former Hollywood assistant, which targets the post-Weinstein #MeToo time.

Published by Legend Press, £8.99 paperback, available now

Published posthumously, this is an uncovered novel o ering a glimpse into the formation of the legendary talent of Leonard Cohen. Before the celebrated late-career world tours, before the Grammy awards, before Hallelujah and Famous Blue Raincoat, Cohen wrote poetry and fiction and yearned for literary stardom. The stories in A Ballet of Lepers – which was written between 1956 in Montreal, just as Cohen was publishing his first poetry collection, and 1961, when he’d settled on the Greek island of Hydra – o er insight into his imagination and creative process. Published by Canongate on 11 October, £20

Can your marriage survive if you’re both sleeping with other people?

This new collection of 19 essays – most previously unpublished in English – by Isaac Bashevis Singer brings together topics that were central to his artistic vision. Expanding on themes reflected in his best-known work –including the literary arts, Yiddish and Jewish life, mysticism and philosophy – the book, edited by David Stromberg, illuminates Singer’s singular achievement as the first Yiddish-language author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Published by Princeton University Press, £20 hardback, available now

Fay believes an open relationship could reignite the spark they’ve lost. But can sex ever just be sex and can their marriage survive non-monogamy – even if they have permission?

From master comedian Mark Schi , a long-time touring partner of Jerry Seinfeld – who writes the foreword to the book – comes a hilarious account of his 50-year career as a stand-up comic, actor and writer. In this honest collection of essays inducing both heart tugs and deep belly laughs, he recounts growing up Jewish in the outer boroughs of New York City and shares how he survived a harrowing childhood, health crises, ageing, marriage, parenting and career highs and lows.

In this ground-breaking new account of the life of Golda Meir (1898–1978), Pnina Lahav re-examines the life of Israel’s fourth and only female prime minister through a feminist lens, focusing on her recurring role as a woman standing alone among men. The Only Woman in the Room explores the tensions between her personal and political identities and is the first book to contend with Meir’s full identity as a woman, Jew, Zionist leader and one of the founders of the state of Israel. Published in the UK by Princeton University Press on 1 November 2022, £28

From Jo Bloom, the author of Ridley Road (which was made into a major BBC TV drama), comes a book exploring the idea (and practice) of an open marriage.

A er more than 20 years of marriage, Fay and Steve are happy enough, though life has become routine and lacks excitement.

For information visit: www.nrps.co.uk MORNINGS FOR

KEREM SCHOOL Open Evening Tuesday 25th October 2022

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NANCY PRIMARYREUBENSCHOOL INVITES YOU TO OUR EARLY YEARS OPEN

Nancy Reuben Primary School has established itself as a high achieving Independent Orthodox Jewish School for boys and girls aged 2-11 in the heart of North West London. The school is well-known for its unique warm, nurturing and special community feel, with an outstanding curriculum from early years to year six.

Specialist teaching in: PE, Yoga, Music & Ivrit as a Modern Foreign Language Winners Ivrit Spelling Bee

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Care

Brian’s mum Bertie loved being around people. That’s why she used to say that volunteering for Jewish Care was the happiest time of her later Beforelife.Bertie passed away, she never got a chance to amend her Will so she could leave something to Jewish Care. Brian has since told us that he has included Jewish Care in his Will on her behalf; “I don’t want to leave it until it’s too late, like Mum. I’m doing this for her”. With a gift in your Will to Jewish Care, you can make sure that future generations of our community get the care they need, when they need it most.

Brian, Legacy Pledger Legacy advert 165x128 JN v3.indd 1 31/05/2022 18:04 Shana Tova to you and your family In the aspertinentremainstheexperiencetheyearBendisplacement.thedesireempathyillustratesdiverserefugeesevocationThisofstrongdisplayingherindividuals,groupsfocusedwasPissarro’sWW2,followingyearsOrovidaworklargelyonofwithpaintingsasensehumanity.rareofofethnicityherandtorecordtragedyofUri’s20-focusonrefugeeinvisualartsastodayeverbefore. Orovida Pissarro, Refugees 1947 | Oil on canvas, Ben Uri Collection Acquired with the support of the Stern Pissarro Gallery 2022 © Trustees of the Estate of Orovida Pissarro Explore and be inspired at benuri.org and, from January, back at Boundary Road, NW8 after refurbishment 3054_BU_JN_quarter__Sep22_128x165_A.indd 1 26/08/2022 14:18 Please help us to support everyone in the community who needs us. a differencelife-saving Together we can make More people are struggling with mental health than ever before. Registered charity no. 1003345. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in London no. 2618170 JamiPeople | jami_ukJAMIMentalHealth|JamiUK Donate today jamiuk.org/donateatThankyou. JN_Jami_Donate_260mmWx165mmH_31Aug2022.indd 1 02/09/2022 11:46

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the sort of picture you might expect: she looks completely different from the capable Manchester housewife that she was. She’s glamorous – which she was in real life – but also faintly exotic in this rendering, with an added touch of mystery, as she is holding a guitar.

“Our paths have crossed over the years”, says Gouldman. “I remember the ﬁrst time I was in Liverpool: we [10CC] were headlining and Queen supported us. One of their road managers brought in their own personal mirror. And we thought, ‘Why haven’t we got our own mirror? We’re the Gouldmanheadliners!’”canbarely recall a time when he was not passionate about music. “I’d been aware of music since I was seven, but it was getting the guitar and the timing of it – we were in the era of Elvis, Bill Haley and His Comets, the skifﬂe era…”

hit, Donna. Gouldman, who Donnaperformsfrequentlyofincarnationthemusicianstoursregularlywithotheraspresent10CC,onstage,andintroducesitasthoughevenhecan’tbelieveit’shalfacenturysincethesongﬁrstwentoutonvinyl.ButGouldmancontinues

“We wanted to make a record, but no one would give us a song. That inspired me to start writing. And the Beatles – they were writing and they were an inspiration, too.”

of the albums and singles released

GouldmanGraham

But getting a guitar wasn’t enough. He began writing songs, he says, “as a consequence of being in a band”, adding:

The guitar, in fact, is Gouldman’s – his very first, bought for him in Spain when he was only 11, by his cousin Ronnie. He no longer has the guitar, but he passes the painting of his mother every day, reminding him of his extraordinary journey as a phenomenon of the pop world, first writing hit song after hit song for other performers, and then becoming one of the founder members of the definitive art rock group,Unbelievably,10CC. it is 50 years since 10CC –Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – first formed and released their unexpected

AS HE CELEBRATES THE BAND’S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY, GRAHAM GOULDMAN IS STILL ON TOUR. THE HITMAKER TALKS HISTORY AND NEW TUNES WITH JENNI FRAZER

released their unexpected into space. NotMayGouldman/partnership.onlydid AT 50

In 1962, the year that the Beatles’ ﬁrst single, Love Me Do, was released,

Queen’sRhapsodyBohemian,issued a few weeks after 10CC’s luminous I’m Not In Love, Gouldmanotherknowntwotracks,layeredsimilarfeaturemulti-voicebutthemenhaveeachforyears.leapsup

to show a wonderful picture, a photograph of a gathering convened by Paul McCartney in 1974. Taken in Holland Park, it shows all the movers and shakers of the rock and pop world at the time, from Gouldman to Eric Clapton and Elton John. And there, right at the back, is May’s unmistakable curly mop, unchanged until the present day.

anging in the hall of Graham hismother,isnorth-westGouldman’sLondonhomeapaintingofhislateBetty,donebyartistaunt.It’snot

10CC

The ‘gift’ of being able to write songs –and Gouldman has had no formal musical training – didn’t come out of nowhere. His paternal grandmother was “very musical and, in fact, the family had a little band and would get together; someone played piano, someone played violin, someone sang. So there was deﬁnitely a musical gene”. As for the lyrics, he may have inherited some of his fondness for wordplay from his father, Hymie Gouldman, known throughout 60s Manchester as a poet and amateurThereplaywright.wasnochance that Graham Gouldman was going to have an academic career. He says he spent most of his time at North Salford Boys’ School “looking out of the window and dreaming about music”. At 17 he left school and went to work in a men’s outﬁtter’s for two years. “I used to take my guitar to work and write songs in the lunch hour when the shop was closed. I got the sack, eventually – best thing that ever happened to me.”

to have musical adventures. His most recent collaboration is a new song, Floating in Heaven, written with Brian May, Queen’s legendary guitarist. It marks the historic ﬁrst images from the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that launched in December 2021 and went into orbit in January of this year. The telescope is the most powerful to be launched intoTherespace. is a synchronicitynice to the MayGouldman/partnership.

10CC in 1974: Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme

Some by

For Your Love kick-started Gouldman’s songwriting career. He was fortunate that at no point did his artistic parents ever tell him that he needed to go out and get a ‘proper’ job. “They were extremely encouraging and nurturing”, he says. He was on a roll. Between 1965 and 1967 he wrote Heart Full of Soul and Evil Hearted You for the Yardbirds; Look Through Any Window (with Charles

Going solo: Play Nicely and Share (2017) and Modesty Forbids (2020)

Godley and Creme left the band in 1976 to work on other projects. There was a brief reforming for one album in 1991, but effectively Gouldman is now keeper of the ﬂame, touring with other musicians under the name 10CC and also collaborating with different songwriters.

The 10CC hits – original, quirky, and memorable – continued even after

On my way out, we pass the painting of Betty Gouldman, holding her son’s ﬁrst guitar. I could swear she winks.

“Without the studio, we would never have formed 10CC. But we were able to be a house band, working for other musicians who wanted to record at Strawberry. I went back to America for a time and while I was away Kevin, Lol and Eric, calling themselves Hotlegs, released a single called Neanderthal Man – and it was a hit.”

Above, right and inset: Graham Gouldman performs with Ringo Starr

Graham Gouldman, centre, with the other members of 10CC

He is admired as a writer, musician and producer by people throughout the industry, not least the legendary Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr. The latter has a rock supergroup called Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, every one of whom is a hitmaker in his or her own right. And so there was a lovely inevitability that there was an invitation to Gouldman, from Ringo, to play with the All-Stars, beginning in 2017.

“For a while,” he says, “it looked like I was going to be a jobbing songwriter, and that was absolutely ﬁne with me, I didn’t mind that all.” Every song sold to another band did well, but Gouldman’s own bands couldn’t break into the hit parade. Eventually he was headhunted to work in New York as a writer for hire, a process he foundFinally,draining.inlate 1969, Gouldman persuaded his American bosses that he’d be happier and more productive working in the UK. He, Godley, another Jewish musician long-time friend, Lol Creme, and the former member of the Mindbenders, Eric Stewart, began to work in Stockport, just near south Manchester, in Strawberry Studios.

It produced a delicious Beatlesque ‘fan’ song, Standing Next To Me, by Gouldman, who confesses that he couldn’t quite believe he was on stage with Ringo. One of their tour dates was two nights in Tel Aviv, where Gouldman, extraordinarily, had never played – “the audiences were great. Everyone loves Ringo.” That includes Gouldman, who speaks with great enthusiasm about the warm atmosphere in the All-Starrs, and how well he got on withPerhapsStarr. some of the success of 10CC, Gouldman believes, lay in the fact that “three of us were Jewish and we had a sense of Jewish comedy”. The four guys, each multitalented, wound each other up, laughed and joked, drawing on their long history of friendship. Some of that, at least, is reﬂected in the songs, using subjects like American prisons (Rubber Bullets) or campus life (The Dean and I) rarely heard in pop music.

“The Yardbirds were a well-known rhythm and blues band, but they wanted to sell records, and so went to outside songwriters. I remember my manager, Harvey Lisberg, came round to my house with a demo tape and played their version. I was blown away. I was a fan of theirs and I’d been to see them”.

When they weren’t working for others, the four would write and record songs among themselves. The usual set-up was Gouldman and Stewart writing together, mirrored by Godley and Creme, but it was ﬂuid. Finally, in 1972, the four had a song called Waterfall (written by Gouldman and Stewart) in which Apple Records, the Beatles’ label, had expressed interest. “We didn’t have a B-side,” but Godley and Creme offered Donna, a sort of doo-wop pastiche, “and we played it to [the pop impresario] Jonathan King”.

He regrets the split with Godley and Creme and still says: “We could have sorted it.” But, just as he was once happy to be a jobbing songwriter, Gouldman continues to make the best of whatever his musical life throws at him, seeing no reason to stop writing and performing “as long as I’m enjoying it”. He spent much of lockdown in his home studio, trying out new ideas and crafting new songs.

and Everton) – anything, really, because it was good business for the studio.”

Soon musicians – including Neil Sedaka – began turning up at Strawberry, keen to work with Gouldman, Godley, Creme and Stewart, four still young but experienced people, who could turn their hands to anything. “We did everything. We did recordings of songs I’d written in America, we did football records (for Manchester City

King came up from London to see the quartet at Strawberry Studios. “He liked the song. He asked us if we had a name and we said no, because we weren’t a touring band.”Atthis point, allegedly, King said he had had a dream the night before, that he was standing outside the Hammersmith Odeon, on whose facade there was a giant slogan: “10CC, the best band in the world”. They agreed and, in July 1972, the band was born. (The other explanation of the origin of the band’s name is unsuitable for family reading.)

“We were only ever doing the music for ourselves,” says Gouldman. “We weren’t following any trend, and that’s why I think the songs haven’t dated.”

He can say that again: the day after our interview, a 1978 song written by him and Stewart, Dreadlock Holiday, was blasting out through my local Tesco, with shoppers happily dancing in the aisles. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that it became the theme music for Sky Sports’ cricket coverage.

Gouldman was in and out of a number of bands: there was the High Spots, the Crevattes, the Planets and the Whirlwinds. This last band used to rehearse at the north Manchester headquarters of the Jewish Lads’ Brigade (JLB), and effectively became the house band for JLB discos. One of the Whirlwinds’ guitarists was Stephen Jacobson, brother of future novelist Howard.After the Whirlwinds came the Mockingbirds, formed in 1965 – and this time there was a new bandmate, another Manchester Jewish friend, Kevin Godley. Gouldman, still only 19, wrote a new song: For Your Love, and the Mockingbirds recorded it. Nothing happened, until the publisher that Gouldman’s band shared with the Yardbirds gave them the song. With the unlikely addition of a studio harpsichord, it became a huge hit.

Silverman) and Bus Stop for The Hollies; and, famously after a conversation with his father, No Milk Today for Herman’s Hermits, as well as a slew of other bouncy, feel-good pop records.

THE GROUNDUP FROM SAVINGLIVES Registered Charity No. 1113409 6494 MDA RH 2022 JN 128x330 v1.indd 1 13/09/2022 17:09

using

To support our work in Julis and across Israel call 020 8201 5900 or visit mdauk.org/build With your help we will save more lives.

More people than ever need Norwood’s help. In fact, one in four people will need Norwood over the next three years*. We help support children and families in crisis, and people of any age with learning disabilities or autism. But we can’t do it without you. Please support Norwood with a donation this Rosh Hashanah.

Patron Her Majesty The Queen Reg Charity No. 1059050 *Source: [Survation, October 2021]

To find out how, call 020 8809 8809 norwood.org.uk/buckets

Everywhere you turn there’s someone in need of Norwood

Call 020 8420 6970 to make a donation today. Alternatively, visit norwood.org.uk/donate or scan the QR code your smartphone.

In any community, building a Magen David Adom station not only saves lives, it changes them too.

or visit

In the growing Israeli Druze town of Julis, Magen David Adom UK is building a station that will house an ambulance together with a team of medics. More than that, MDA Julis will provide jobs and volunteering opportunities for a community living on Israel’s social and economic periphery. What started as a simple dispatch point is now something much, much bigger.

please

Heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the whole community for your support, generosity and partnership in all that we do. Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and fulfilling year of connection. For more info: info@jfutures.org Rosh Hashanah 1 - Monday 26th September Rosh Hashanah 2 - Tuesday 27th September Kol Nidrei - Erev Yom Kippur - Tuesday 4th October Yom Kippur - Wednesday 5th October Simchat Beit Hashoeivah - Thursday 13th October Simchat Torah - Monday 17th October UPLIFTING AND INSPIRING YOM TOV SERVICES @ AISH/JEWISH FUTURES 379 HENDON WAY, LONDON NW4 3LP: HIGH HOLY DAYSUnplugged JEWISH FUTURES EDUCATORS WILL BE FACILITATING HIGH HOLY DAYS SERVICES AT: BusheyMillHGSSUnitedHillEastNerYisroel Od Yosef Hai Radlett StanmoreUnitedUnitedWhitefield 5783: A YEAR OF DIVERSECONNECTIONGENUINEWAYSTOENGAGEMANYWAYSTOCONNECT ד׳׳סב A return to true connection - רּוּבִח - with self, with others, with God, with all… Registered Charity no. 1151066

March of the Living UK Register your interest at marchoftheliving.org.uk or email admin@marchoftheliving.org.ukmarchoftheliving.org.ukadmin@marchoftheliving.org.uk

RABBI JOSEPH AND MARGALIT DWECK RABBI OF THE SEPHARDI COMMUNITY

OFCELEBRATIONAWHISKY

Withall.the

3.11.22LAUDERDALEROAD SYNAGOGUE 7PM - 9PM 50+ of the best drams from across Scotland Delicious food paired with the whisky Silent auction on the night All proceeds in aid of the restoration of Lauderdale Road Synagogue £50 Bookppby https://celebrationofwhisky.eventbrite.co.uk31.10.22Formoreinfoemailorah@sephardi.org.uk Krakow Treblinka Sobibor Chel mno Majdanek Belzec Lublin Lancut Lodz Bial ystok Kazmierz Dolny Warsaw AuschwitzBirkenau DAY 5 DAY 4 DAY 1+2 DAY 3 POLAND 16-20 APRIL 2023 WARSAW, AUSHWITZ-BIRKENAU,MAJDANEK,KRAKOW

Although I had some form of Holocaust education all of my life, nothing came close to visiting Auschwitz. In primary school my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Unger, was a survivor. Here and there she shared anecdotes, stories, and experiences she had had in the camps. She did it with the greatest sensitivities to the eight-year-olds that were in her care, but she did it, nonetheless. My high school shared a building with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. Holocaust remembrance was, for us, an every-day occurrence.

Margalit and I visited Auschwitz last year with March of the Living UK. Our host, Scott Saunders and our own Cassie Ozer planned and directed the entire trip of delegations from many synagogues and organizations. There was even an interfaith bus led by Rabbi Harvey Belovski. Being there and seeing it in front of our eyes was deeply impactful. Among the experience that impacted me most was how close the crematoria were to the gas chambers. All of it so systematic, so morbidly and grotesquely efficient. The staggering and complete devaluing of human life was starkly glaring in the very architecture. Unlike me, Margalit had never been to a Holocaust Museum; Auschwitz was her ﬁrst. She was angry and I watched her turn the large pages of the immense books holding the names of those who perished to see if she might ﬁnd a relative of hers from Thessaloniki. We were privileged to have survivors on the trip with us. These survivors, now in their nineties, were young children or teenagers during the war. The survivors who were adults in the camps, whom I used to listen to when I was in primary school, were no longer with us. There are no more living witnesses who were adults during the Holocaust. And sadly, soon there will be no eyewitnesses at

Generously sponsored by including

As Elie Weisel said, when you hear the testimony of a witness, you too become a witness. And for that reason, we would like to take an S&P delegation to March of the Living 2023. March of the Living UK’s programme is educational, poignant, and meaningful. It allows the evidence to speak for itself while supporting the difficult experience with sensitive and thoughtful insight. More important than simply seeing it, is to witness it.

SENIOR

rise of antisemitism in the world and with deniers of the Holocaust increasingly emboldened, it is our responsibility in addition to remembering what was done to our people, to witness it and speak of it.

Enabling Holocaust survivors and refugees to live in dignity and comfort in their own homes.Contact us for more information enquiries@ajr.org.uk · www.ajr.org.uk · 020 8385 3070 AssociationofJewishRefugees @TheAJR_ programmes200 +interventions100 +second100 +60 +50 +45 +benuri.orgANewEraTheFirstFullScaleVirtualMuseum&ResearchCentreOpen24/7|FreeEntry|admin@benuri.orgonline&3Dexhibitionscatalogues&essayspodcasts&brieflivesfilms&60insightsarts&healthschoollearning300 +Researchunitprofiles400 +artistbiographies500 +archivalexhibitioncataloguessince1925850 +collectionartworks10,000 +pagesofarchivesdatingfrom1915 3054_BU_JN_quarter__Sep22_128x165_B.indd 1 26/08/2022 14:31 ENJOY A SWEETER NEW YEAR AT NEW WEST END SYNAGOGUE At New West End we have the most beautiful synagogue where, every Shabbat, we enjoy the most wonderful singing by our Chazan, Marc Joseph and the truly memorable sound of our resident choir, Mosaic Voices. Why not make this Rosh Hashanah really special and share it with us in our historic Synagogue within our warm and welcoming community. SHANA TOVA

I arrive early and am led into Michael’s man cave by Gilda, or “Gill” as her husband of 55 years calls her.

talentedpositionsresponsibleyoupeople.

There are certificates, doctorates, newspapers

I try to never let people down.”

Carmel Brown, and his care home teams were just became clear this emergency required extra funding,

jewishnews.co.uk 27

“I started in my mid 20s, so I’ve been at it a very long time. You can’t fundraise for 50 years without being able to go back to the same people year after year, so you can’t be impatient. I’ve always been able to relate to people and like to think people relate to me. Not that I get on with everyone, but I try to be absolutely straight. When I shake hands, that’s it.”

INTERVIEW MAN

“£100million?” I ventured, not wishing to offend with a modest total. It turns out I’d missed out a zero or two. Over half a century, Baron Michael Levy of Mill Hill has raised a boggling £1billion for causes close to his heart. So, let’s begin with the

obvious question. How do you go about raising the gross domestic product of a small nation state? It can’t all be down to a solid handshake and megawatt smile. “It’s about looking people in the eye,” says Michael, looking me in the eye. “It’s about calming concerns, giving straight answers and being honest and well informed. Asking for donations – for a charity or political party – is a matter of trust and respect.

THE £1 billion

Michael soon enters with customary elan, impeccably turned out in a blue suit with matching pocket square and a pink tie. He gives me one of his signature warm pats on the cheek and takes a seat, not behind a desk strewn with family photos but the armchair opposite, so close our

elan, impeccably turned out in a blue suit

Samuel

Jewish charity bosses certainly earned their keep during Covid. “Those early days of lockdown were a time of deep confusion,” he recalls, rubbing his forehead, appearing fraught at the thought. “People were being sent back from hospital without tests and we didn’t have enough PPE to take care of staff. Our chief executive, Daniel Carmel Brown, and his care home teams were just remarkable – working around the clock. It soon became clear this emergency required extra funding,

LORD LEVY COULD TEACH FACEBOOK A THING OR TWO ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORKING. RICHARD FERRER GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH THE FUNDRAISER EXTRAORDINAIRE... ON AND OFF THE TENNIS COURT

It’s still not entirely in the right direction.” were

and gold discs from his time as a record label boss. There’s a rare travel guide to Ottoman-era Palestine, dated 1852, a pair of swords – from the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and the late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, and pictures upon pictures upon pictures. There he is with Queen Elizabeth, King Charles, Bill Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, Kofi Annan, Mahmoud Abbas, Gordon Brown and Rabbi Lord Sacks (not all together). There’s another of him shaking hands with Yasser

I almost reach for my debit card. that be

And sitting above them all, literally and lovingly, are two quite mesmerising portraits of his late parents, Samuel and Annie – who during our conversation the 78-year-old affectionately calls “mummy and daddy”.

Michael speaks in a soft, almost affectionate tone –as if confiding in a good friend rather than a journalist he’s met a handful of times. It’s an intoxicating talent.

It’s still not entirely competitive with some top commercial roles but it’s heading

Michael says one of his proudest achievements is making Jewish charity executives’ salaries competitive across the sector. The highest paid employee at Jewish Care, where he is life president, earned more than £170,000 in 2019. “If you want the right people in talentedpositionsresponsibleyouhavetopaythemhighly,”hesays.“Thecommunity’scharitiesnowattractthemostpeople.

the armchair opposite, so close our knees almost knock. We’d last spoken the previous month when I’d attempted to guess how much Michael has fundraised in 50 years.

ord Levy, it turns out, is a bit of a hoarder. His home office is an Aladdin’s cave of artefacts and antiques, accumulated over the course of half-a-century of handshakes.

Arafat, looking slightly concerned he might not get his hand back. And, inevitably, with his old mate Tony Blair – the man he fundraised into Downing Street who, despite media reports of a falling out, remains a close friend.

A selection of pictures hanging in Lord Levy’s home o ice: In conversation with the late Queen, former US President Bill Clinton and King Charles

“At that time, in early 2020, I began our Zoom calls with a prayer for one of my closest friends, Michael Goldmeier, who had Covid. There he is,” Michael says, pointing to another of his framed pictures. “Michael was a dear friend for 50 years and a former chairman of Jewish Care. He was here in my home for Shabbat dinner in early March. One week later he became unwell. One week later he was in hospital and one week after that he passed away. His passing made the communal care campaign even more personal for me.”

Shabbat early

between the Board of Deputies and Jewish

It claims to be democratic, but its representation barely changes year after year. I’m not criticising individuals at the Board or JLC. (Board president) Marie van der Zyl and (JLC chair) Keith Black are impressive, hardworking leaders. I respect what they do but I’m not sure much of it is relevant.”

Michael admits. “It now duplicates a lot of the Board’s work and makes those outside the community wonder: who do I go to? To the Board, with its historic relationship with government going back centuries, or the JLC, which has impact and influence in a different way. It’s created a foggy situation which, in a small community like ours, is unhelpful. There needs to be clarity and transparency, so the government knows who it is dealing with.”

not just for Jewish Care but other Jewish charities like Nightingale, which faced similar issues. So, we fundraised for them all. £5million in one-week, shared between the charities. The community rose to the challenge quite brilliantly.

Tough talk from a man who helped launch the JLC in 2003. “Back then I didn’t imagine it would grow to its current size, with so many member branches,”

28 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

Michael has also faced daunting challenges as president of JFS, Europe’s biggest Jewish comprehensive school, which was recently taken out of special measures following a tragic period in which three pupils took their own lives and more than 6,000 people signed a petition urging the school to prioritise mental health. At its lowest ebb, Ofsted identified “deep-rooted and widespread failings in the school’s safeguarding culture”. The transformation under new headteacher, Dr David Moody, has been swift and successful, with students last month celebrating superb GCSE and A-level results.

Regarding coordination, or even a merger, between the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council, Michael is surprisingly blunt. “If Jewish Care, Nightingale or the Community Security Trust suddenly disappeared, it would have a devastating impact on the community. Do you honestly think if the Board of Deputies or Jewish Leadership Council vanished it would make such a difference? Look at the Board’s makeup.

Lord Levy and Richard Ferrer in conversation in the Labour peer’s home o ice

Does this joint effort in combating Covid point the way to communal organisations working as one in future? “Well,” he says, an eyebrow raised. “That’s easier said than done. We’re a small community with too many organisations so, yes, we should cut back on duplication and overheads to put more into the provision of services. But, making that a reality, well…” Michael uncharacteristically leaves that sentence hanging in the air.

“JFS has been through a tough time,” Michael reflects. “There were tragic days, wonderful young lives were lost, and this impacted us all deeply. We now have an excellent new headteacher and recent results have been outstanding. It’s taken a lot of time and energy, led by our chair of governors, governing body and me in the background as president, to put the school back on the right footing. I speak to the head teacher every week and from everything I’m hearing the parents are starting to have their belief and confidence in the school restored. JFS has an excitingBeforefuture.”moving away from matters communal, Michael, unprompted, is scathing about the clandestine ownership of the Jewish Chronicl e. In 2020, an anonymous £2.2million bid derailed a community-backed merger with Jewish News at the eleventh hour. Two years later and the owner’s identity remains closely guarded (even the newspaper’s editor claims he is in the dark). The motive for such a cloakand-dagger routine has also raised concerns (the only named shareholder and director is former Downing Street spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb, who fronted the

We meet the day Liz Truss became prime minister. Was Starmer happy to see the back of Boris Johnson, a consummate election winner and media performer? “Keir has every chance of becoming the next prime minister,” Michael predicts. “That makes him bad news for any Tory leader, be it Johnson or Truss. Keir is ready for an election before 2024, but I doubt that will happen – despite Liz Truss having no mandate.”

Michael also has high regard for what he calls Starmer’s “government in waiting”. He says: “Rachel Reeves (shadow chancellor) has a fantastic financial mind, David Lammy (shadow foreign secretary) and Yvette Cooper (shadow home secretary) are honest and genuine people and I’m close to Wes Streeting (shadow health secretary), who is a first-class guy. We have a very good front bench. They are ready to assume power.”

Indeed. Even staunch Conservatives concede the Opposition is now more electable than at any time since New Labour – an era Michael did so much to engineer.Hefirst

Dancing to the Hava Nagila with Camilla, Queen Consort, at the Brenner Stepney Jewish Community Centre

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 29 a Jewish Care dinner. He is life president of the charity

With Tony Blair at a Jewish Care event in the early days of New Labour

“We all see what the newspaper’s politics now are. What its world view has become. It might as well be written at Tory Party HQ, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the Labour Party. Well, the Tories won’t be in power for ever, that’s for sure.”

Eventually, he pipes up: “Oh Lord, I didn’t realise we had so much bloody stuff. Gill, We need a tidy up!”

With singer Craig David and London mayor Sadiq Khan at

Looking back on his career – Michael is 13 years beyond retirement age but shows no sign of slowing down – what does he consider his proudest achievements? “Helping create Jewish Care; seeing JFS go from a building site to what it is today –tantamount to a university campus; witnessing

came to national prominence as Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser – cruelly dubbed “Lord Cashpoint” by the tabloids – and later served as his personal envoy to the Middle East. So, all eyes were on him during the darkest days of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. How close did he get to quitting the party? Michael pauses. “Very close. Tony told me to stay in the party. He said things would turn around and I needed to hold my ground and see it through. My family said the same. But yes, it was an incredibly difficult time. Nobody was more vociferously critical of Corbyn than me and I paid a price in the party. My life was Michael’sthreatened.”patience was rewarded at the 2019 general election when Corbynism collapsed under the weight of its own delusions. New leader Keir Starmer pledged from day one to make the party a home for Jews once more. Marks out of 10 so far?

On the passing of the Queen, who died three days after we met, Michael later reflects: “She truly understood that there are differences between peoples, but that there is much more that unites us. That sense of harmony, which has served this nation well during some difficult times, most certainly radiated through every interaction with her.”

He continues: “Keir will always have critics in our community; the same critics who don’t dare condemn the Tories. During the Conservative leadership campaign our new prime minister attacked the ‘woke civil service culture that strays into antisemitism’ and called Jews ‘business orientated’. The silence in the community to those words was deafening. Where was the criticism? Only the head of Union of Jewish Students had the gumption to take her to task.”

“I won’t give Keir a score. The key question is –did he set out with genuine sincerity to eradicate antisemitism? I have no doubt that’s precisely what he did. He was determined from the start to deal with the issue. He is a brave and honest man with an absolute moral compass. A man of dignity and principle. He could be making a fortune as a barrister but has given his career to his country. He will make an excellent prime minister.

wear my identity with pride. I am a privileged guy and everything I’ve achieved in life has been as a proud Jew.”

“There will always be elements of antisemitism in politics, but do I wake up in the morning thinking there’s an antisemite in my cupboard? No, I don’t. I

the growth of JLGB and how brilliantly it pivoted during the pandemic. These are highlights. I hope my contribution has helped make our community stronger.”Afterchatting for an hour, Michael gives me a tour of his north London home, past the swimming pool where he aims for 40 lengths each morning, beyond the idyllic koi fishpond and on to his beloved Astroturf tennis court, where he plays three times a week.Should Andy Murray follow Roger Federer and retire? “No, but his best days sadly are behind him.” Will Emma Raducanu win another Grand Slam? “Probably not. Let’s just say her determination on court hasn’t been matched by her determination off it.” I mention my half-decent forehand and Michael invites me back the following Sunday for a game. He wins 6-3.

bid). “We know who owns our national newspapers, but our community knows nothing about the ownership of a newspaper that is meant to serve us, not keep us in the dark,” Michael says. “Such lack of transparency is disturbing and, frankly, dangerous.

I phone Michael the next day. Not to request a rematch (I have no answer to his backhand slice) but to fact check a few of the items in his office. For a minute or two, all I hear is the clatter and thud of objects being picked up and moved about.

Happy New Year from allthe

JDA family Michael is Deaf and blind. He loves to blow the Shofar! His guide taps out the notes on Michael’s hand so he can blow it correctly and enjoy feeling the vibrations of each note. 020 8446 www.jdeaf.org.uk0502 Registered Charity No. 1105845 Company Limited by Guarantee 4983830 A big thank you to each and every one of our supporters for helping to sustain our loving, caring, laughing, wonderful JDA community.

It’s not enough! - the year we talk about ever!!!wellbeingemotionalmorethan 70, 02 0+ 1 5783 Over texts this year. teens impacted in mental health workshops . Over trained councillors . Wishing all our supporters a Shana Tova Remember Jteen is conﬁdential and anonymous and is available for anyone between the ages of 11-20. We can't see your number and we won't ask for your name. Rabbinical board led by: Rabbi S.F Zimmerman (Federation BeisDin) and Rabbi S Winegarten. registered charity numer: 1195377 registered company numer: 12336514www.jteensupport.org

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LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 33 BARD TALK

TAO: My first experience with the play was very similar to Howard’s. We were reading it at school and I found it a really uncomfortable experience, mainly because of the laughter and the sort of baying at [Shylock’s words], ‘my ducats, my daughter’. I’ve never seen a production that sat easily with me, for many reasons. I don’t know whether the laughter, the hatred, or the pity, is worst. I find it a problematic play because, as Howard says,

HJ: That initial discomfort was a teenage boy’s discomfort. I was 14 and we were reading The Merchant of Venice in class, and the teacher said, ‘Jacobson, you’re Shylock.’ Right away, I thought, ‘I wonder why?’ I was not made uncomfortable because I thought it was antisemitic. I thought it was too philosemitic. It was the famous speech – ‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’ I was acting Shylock, and I did not want to hear myself, or him, making that plea for Jews.Ithought, ‘Well, this is not the Shakespeare I’m interested in; this felt

of Venice 1936. I’ve been working with Brigid Larmour, artistic director of the Watford Palace, to cut it down and reframe it, still using the original text, but with other elements added in.

TAO: I’m performing in The Merchant

So when I approached it, I wanted to see how the play would change if you made Shylock a widowed single mother, with a daughter. I was thinking about the toughness of Shylock. I wondered what would happen if you set it in the ’30s, and I based it on my bubbeh, and the tough Jewish women who had come here from Belarus, or the Pale of Settlement, and were so alien in this English world. Back then, a Jewish woman had to be able to strap a cow across her back while ideally her husband was a Talmud scholar. She’d have 14 children, but made her hovel look like a palace on Shabbat. She could survive rapes, beheadings, Cossack attacks [and] her sons being taken into the Russian army. These women were survivors but, to the aristocratic British, these tough balabustas were seen as unfeminine.Inmyexperience of standing up to antisemitism, I found a real intersectionality between misogyny and antisemitism, which also made me think, ‘What happens if you have a female Shylock? What if it is set in 1936, just before the Battle of Cable Street? What happens if you make Portia a sort of more intelligent Nancy Mitford? And what happens if these [Christians] are awful, Oswald Mosley acolytes, like the Bullingdon Boys, gone wrong?’

TAO: What is that?

like a special interest thing. It’s not what Shakespeare normally does. I didn’t like it. It was only when I was asked to write my own take on The Merchant [his 2016 novel, Shylock is My Name] that I remembered I’d not liked the play and had never taught it. But I said, ‘Okay, let me take a look,’ and the minute I did, it was not the play I remembered. It was entirely different. I started to get into its world of self-pitying gentiles, of loathsome, self-delighting, whingeing, moaning and whining, wheedling gentiles, who were also, very quickly, antisemites. I thought, ‘This is good stuff. This is fun.’ And this gives me an opportunity to say that anybody who says the play is antisemitic does not know how to read it! It’s not without its problems – there are always problems in Shakespeare, because he’s complex – but it was clear to me that this was a play about antisemitism as a subject. But it was no more promoting antisemitism than Macbeth promotes the murder of Scottish kids.

LM: Let’s go back to first principles. What did you dislike about the play, for all those years before you started to write?

Tracy-Ann Oberman and Howard Jacobson have always been less than comfortable with The Merchant of Venice. With the actress and writer poised to play the first female Shylock next year, Life Magazine invited her to discuss the play, its problems and its prejudices with the eminent novelist and Shakespeare specialist. They met on a summer evening in a Soho loft

HJ: It is the turquoise, it is Shylock’s turquoise ring. It is my favourite line in the whole play, when Shylock says, ‘It was my turquoise. I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys’ – this is when he learns that his daughter, Jessica, has stolen it, sold it and bought a monkey with the proceeds. My wife, Jenny, knew I loved this line and bought me the ring.

The He SheLock:said, MERCHANT REVISITED

PROLOGUE TO ACT ONE: Tracy-Ann Oberman (TAO) catches sight of Howard Jacobson’s (HJ) ring.

ACT ONE, SCENE ONE: First Encounter Life Magazine (LM): Howard, this was a play you had never taught. And both of you have done very different takes on The Merchant of Venice. Can you share your experiences?

it’s misunderstood. But I also think it ties in with antisemitic Jewish tropes in this country that go back to medieval times and carry on today.

they were tough-as-nails negotiators. They had to be tougher than the men.

SCENE TWO: Shylock as a She

HJ: So is your female Shylock having an even worse time? Because she’s not just a Jew, but a woman?

managed to get rid of all of that. She’s tough and she’s horrible, because she has to be tough and she has to be horrible. People had assumed I’ve made her terribly noble and that Shylock is going to be the heroine. On the contrary, it’s made me embrace what makes somebody think– if you want a monster, I’ll give you a monster. So she is really difficult, and tough.

The money-lender’s future Stage directions: Everything is taken from Shylock when he loses the court case because he is unable to take Antonio’s flesh without drawing blood. As a result, he has to forfeit half his wealth to Antonio and the rest to the Venetian state. But there is one more turn of the screw when Antonio insists that Shylock should also convert to Christianity.

I had a great-aunt, known as ‘Machine-Gun Molly’, and another in the East End called Sarah Portugal, who had bright red lipstick and smoked a pipe. These women were widows, and the men were absolutely terrified of them, because

moment – when I say ‘my husband gave it to me’. And then she comes back and finds her daughter gone. She finds it was all b******t. They [the Christians] have taken everything.

The Shylock that Shakespeare gives us is someone who says, ‘I will play up to this version of me. It does me no good to do this. But it gives me a satisfaction, because it allows me to deride you and to sneer at your incapacity to treat me as a human being. And I will prove that more, by being this less-than -human being.’

TAO: Yes. But what I found quite liberating is that, whereas in other productions I’ve seen there’s a nobility to Shylock and a victim-like status, I’ve

TAO: I do think it’s an antisemitic play. Jews hate blood. It is not in our culture. The blood libel is so offensive because we don’t eat meat with blood. So this idea of Shylock taking the flesh and being told, ‘Thou shall not take a single drop of Christian blood’ carries on the blood libel.

HJ: So is it you saying, ‘You want a monster and I’ll give you a monster’, or was it the Jewish women who said, ‘Okay, you want to see us as monsters? We’ll show you Becausethat’?Ithink Shylock does that.

LM: What do you think becomes of Shylock? In the play, Shakespeare gives him the line, ‘I am content’. In other words, he accepts the verdict and is ready to become Christian.

TAO: Well, we don’t know what happens to Shylock, we just know that he/she has

This is the world my Shylock exists in...When I heard my bubbeh and greatuncles talking about what they did at the Battle of Cable Street, those were fighting, surviving, Jews. I wanted to remind people of that.

SCENE FOUR:

HJ: The world you’re describing is worse than the world of Merchant of Venice

SCENE THREE: The psychology

TAO: There’s a moment where my Shylock wants to befriend the Christian traders, Antonio and Bassanio. She tries to show them she is more than just this woman who may or may not lend money. It’s almost like she’s saying, ‘Look, I’m intellectual, I read, I understand the Talmud and I’m more than what you see here.’

HJ: [And actually, Shylock says] ‘I’m more than you, because you’ve read nothing, you know nothing.’ He dances rings around Antonio and Bassanio. They don’t know what to do with him. Maybe in making Shylock a woman, you might be able to give this another edge. He flirts, with that stuff about taking the pound of flesh ‘from... the part that pleases me most’.

TAO: And she flirts with Bassanio. But when he brings Antonio [to see Shylock], he’s playing two different games, which is sort of okay with a Jew, but deeply uncomfortable for his aristocratic friends. But it turns for me, in the Leah ring

HJ: I think ‘I am content’ is mystifying. I never want to say Shakespeare got it wrong. I always want to say he got everything right. But I don’t get ‘I am content’. I get that he may have decided Shylock will leave, completely broken by what these heartless swines, who dare to talk of mercy, have done to him. But who gav e them the idea of mercy anyway? They got it from Jesus and Jesus got it from the Jewish religion. I can see a defeated Shylock, but why he would say ‘I am content’ – I don’t know how to explain that. In my book, I wanted something else. My Shylock is not content. My Shylock is alive now, in the present, and boiling with rage; he isn’t capable of contentment. He has nothing but contempt for the Christian world and its treatment of him.

been broken. They’ve tried to destroy her – but Jews have faced worse and they do survive.

SCENE FIVE: The obsession with Jews TAO: I looked into Mosley, and he had big rallies, including one at the Royal Albert Hall. All the aristocracy came and heard Mosley’s ideas about Jews –they bloody loved it. But when he got to Earls Court, he cocked up. Mosley had these trained boxers, called the ‘Biff Boys’, but some Jews had infiltrated and, before Mosley could speak for more than three seconds, they kept putting up their hands to ask questions. Mosley couldn’t contain his anger and gave the nod to the Biff Boys to beat up the Jews. And that’s when the aristocracy said, ‘Gosh, he’s right about the Jews, but we don’t like this violence.’

INTERVIEW

HJ: Well, that’s the moment when the deal ‘the taking of the pound of flesh’ –which was some kind of a joke, and we don’t quite know what kind – suddenly becomes serious. You suddenly know the problems that Shylock has bringing up his daughter as a single father. This is what Shakespeare does, in one line. This man’s past is given to you, the degree of feeling is given to you. That’s why for me, it can’t be an antisemitic play, because antisemites do not see the human being in the person they are rude to.

HJ: But there’s no ghetto in Shakespeare’s Venice. Remember, he knew almost nothing about Jews. There were none in Elizabethan England. The mystery is why the Elizabethans were so interested in Jews and in plays that traduced Jews, such as Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, when there are no Jews there.

not to be trusted and close to power just took over.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 35

HJ: We do live in the most horrible world I’ve ever lived in. These are horrible, horrible times. And you would wish therefore for very simple things: you’d want Ukraine to win, for the cost of living to come down. I want inflation to be reduced. I want to finish my next novel.

Roots Schmoots was a three-part film I made with my wife Jenny. We had a very nice, non-Jewish cameraman, who went through Israel with us and then through Lithuania listening to it all. At the end when we had our final dinner, he said, ‘It’s been so interesting to learn and to understand the basis of antisemitism.’ And then he said: ‘There’s one question that keeps nagging at me, why are Jews so interested in money?’

EPILOGUE

there was a ghetto in Venice in which Jews had to live, where their rights were inhibited.

TAO: One of the things I hadn’t fully appreciated was how deep antisemitism goes in this country, though the British like to think of themselves as incredibly tolerant. The idea of the Jewish moneylender, of the Jew being obsessed with money, ‘my ducats, my daughter’, was an English construct. The Jews did lots of different things in medieval times, but this idea of them being greedy, shifty,

ACT TWO, SCENE TWO: Ingrained antisemitism

TAO: My Shylock has a history of [being the target of] misogyny, mistrust and hatred. So for her, when she says to Antonio, ‘You call me cut-throat, dog and cur’, it really has a resonance. It really ties into my own experience of misogyny and antisemitism and tropes about Jewish women.

TAO: That people buy tickets to my play. And health. I hope people can afford to heat their homes and eat, that sort of broader scale. I hope for better times to come.

Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson, £9.99 from Waterstones

HJ: They didn’t know the difference. The Christians thought circumcision was castration. The blood libel comes partly from the belief that Jewish men needed Christian blood to replenish their

And then to have Shylock, Fagin and the Jew of Malta as the three archetypes in literature – it’s so unpleasant, so shameful. People don’t understand antisemitism. It is absolutely alive and kicking. The only thing is, these days, it has an acceptable form because they call it anti-Zionism.

Discussion chaired and reported by Jenni Frazer

HJ: Doesn’t matter. What makes a great writer is that imaginative leap into what it is to be somebody else. An absolute antisemite cannot make that leap, but if he/she did, they would cease to be an antisemite.

In Lithuania, they also have this wonderful expression: if you put something on inside out, it’s called ‘going Jew’. It’s not even thought about. I know no antisemitism is meant, it’s just an expression. But what’s deeper in our culture than its language? Is the idea that anything that’s the inverse of the natural, and the inverse of the normal, is a Jew? How the hell do you get rid of that?

TAO: And isn’t that because he’s such a great writer? Not because he’s doing it as pro-Jewish?

You could say that, in the play, Shakespeare atones for the antisemitism of his age, because although there’s lots of ugly stuff about Shylock’s Jewishness, I also think Shakespeare, with the imagination of a supreme artist, becomes interested in Shylock as an individual. His natural instinct is to go towards the person whom ordinary mankind despises, because he is not, himself, ordinary mankind. Shakespeare makes him human, and to make a person, who

LM: With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approaching, doesThe Merchant of Venice teach us anything about atonement?

LM: What are your hopes for the new year?

is the object of prejudice, human is an extraordinary thing.

HJ: I saw a production recently that wasn’t particularly sympathetic to Shylock. And the audience hissed at him. It was impossible to see what they were hissing at in the production. Quite a young audience, it was spontaneous, almost as if Shylock had come out of pantomime.Butwhatthe play shows is the depth of antisemitism. It’s just there. Shylock says to Antonio, ‘You called me dog before you knew me. Now I will show you my fangs.’ It reminds you of how ingrained antisemitism is in the Christian imagination.

own blood, because they bled all the time. Part of what terrified Christians about Jews was that if Jews circumcised themselves, what would they do to them?

ACT TWO, SCENE ONE: The meaning of the pound of flesh

HJ: Shylock does not atone, but then he hasn’t got anything to atone for. None of the gentile world in The Merchant of Venice is interested in atonement. They [also] don’t think they have anything to atone for. I think it’s an atonement-free play.

HJ: That’s antisemitism on the cheap. In Lithuania, they have a devil museum. I filmed it once. They’re all Jews. To the medieval mind, the Jew was terrifying because he was in cahoots with the devil. He smelled like the devil. Never forget there was a Jewish stench. It was the stench of hell-fire.

TAO: For me, Shakespeare cannot help but be influenced by the antisemitism of the day that he was brought up with, like all Englishmen. But I would flip that and say he is writing a play about a loathsome Jew, but because he’s such a great writer, he gives that character humanity.

The Merchant of Venice 1936 watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk:

HJ: But the minute you give a character humanity, you’ve rescued that character from the prejudice.

HJ: What did occur to me when I was writing this book was that the pound of flesh is actually a version of circumcision. I remember a TV programme I did about Shylock, and interviewing [Shakespeare scholar] James Shapiro. And I said to him, ‘I’ve got this idea. Do you think this is mad?’ Shakespeare isn’t saying Shylock is circumcising Antonio, but somewhere, [perhaps] in what he would have read, he would have come across misunderstandings of circumcision.

TAO: It was ever thus. We are a tiny community, and yet we fill headspace and column inches and social media feeds. People are obsessed. Why are they so obsessed?

LM: I think it might have been castration, rather than circumcision.

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Raymond’s stroke had a devastating effect on his and Pamela’s life until they moved in to their Jewish Blind & Disabled apartment. Now they enjoy the best of both worlds –independence with a social life on their doorstep. Raymond & Pamela moved into their state-of-the-art mobility apartment in 2019.

“The rest of me hasgone to pot, butthe legs are sensational,”stillshe says

Thelma blushes again at the memory, letting slip she was not always someone who could bear the thought of being in the limelight. In fact, as a young child growing up in an Orthodox family in Leeds, Thelma Wigoder, as she was known, was painfully shy and never admitted to wanting to follow in the footsteps of her actress mother Paula. A child performer who matured into a leading lady, Paula was “gorgeous and had a beautiful voice – which I never had,” says Thelma modestly.

a special lunch they were hosting to mark Camilla’s 75th birthday. All the guests were “well-known people, all aged over 70, who have achieved something in their oldSheage”.recalls of that special day suddenly finding herself the centre of attention. “Giles stood up and gave a speech. He said: ‘Just a few weeks ago, I saw a lady give the most phenomenal performance. She made us laugh, she made us cry. She’s 97, she’s here today and her name is Thelma Ruby!’ I was asked to stand up and the audience burst into applause.”

A beaming Thelma, whose fresh complexion belies her age, reveals during our Zoom chat that it may have been too early to close the curtains on her career just yet. And what notable moments there have been in that career. She played Golde opposite Topol’s iconic Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and she’s trodden the boards with Judi Dench in Cabaret, Michael Hordern in King Lear and Orson Welles in Chimes at Midnight. On screen she’s enjoyed stints in Dad’s Army and Coronation Street and only in recent weeks filmed a mockumentary alongside Kate Winslet.

“Someone recently asked me this. I’ve never smoked, I’ve never been a drinker. I do try and let troubles slide off me and I don’t think I’ve ever lost my temper. Then they asked, ‘Are you Jewish?’ And I said yes! Maybe that’s the secret? It’s all in the genes, you know.”

Whether she’s formally taken a bow from acting or not, Thelma reveals she still finds herself being asked to regale endlessly interesting tales of a life spent in entertainment. Her fans even include the newly titled Queen Consort, Camilla.

Thelma looks back at those early days of her career with as much fondness as her later successes, which include starring alongside Topol in a 1984 production of Fiddler on the Roof. She says of her co-star: “There are a lot of actors and actresses that other people warn you that won’t like, that they’re very difficult. And that’s what some people said about Topol. I can only say we became good friends and I loved working with him.”

to call it, ‘Every Night Something Awful’,” she laughs.

She travelled to hospitals all over the country to bring cheer to convalescing soldiers. She remembers “one whole audience of boys who had been blinded, another audience of boys who had lost limbs”. On VE Day in 1945, Thelma was asked to sing for young pilots who had “been shot down in flames” and suffered serious burns. “Boys with no faces, no noses, no ears,” she tells me. “But what an audience they were. How they cheered!”

Thelma blesses the “good luck I’ve had all my life.” She adds: “To have found such a happy career, to have found even at 45 a wonderful husband and have 21 wonderful years together and to be acting at the age of 97 – and still feel fine!” While she and Peter did not have children, she is close to Peter’s daughter from a previous marriage, and through her enjoys 10 grandchildren and 47 greatgrandchildren.Ishappiness key to a long life, I ask?

She is equally admiring of Judy Dench, who she co-starred alongside in 1968 in Cabaret and remains a close friend. Thelma recalls: “There’s a part where I’m facing the audience and she has her back to the audience listening to me doing a monologue. Eight shows a week nobody

INTERVIEW

Indeed, Thelma was likely destined to “do what my parents wished for me, which was to marry a nice Jewish doctor or lawyer from Leeds – or maybe even Manchester,” but history and fate had otherTheideas.outbreak of war in 1939 resulted in Thelma, who was just a young teenager at the time, being evacuated to the United States with her mother. She subsequently landed a scholarship at Finch Junior College in New York.

In 1944, Thelma returned to Britain with her newly-acquired education and she and Paula signed up to join ENSA. “This stood for Entertainments National Service Association, but the troops used

and acting

From le : with Kenneth Williams in The Buccaneer; as Golde, alongside Topol, in Fiddler on the Roof; with Judi Dench in Cabaret; as Golda Meir in Momma Golda by William Gibson

Three months ago, the Leeds-born Jewish actress announced that her one-woman show at The Pheasantry in West London would be her last, but it seems there might be an encore. “I did announce it would be my last, but one of the people there said, ‘If you’re feeling as well as you do now just before your 100th birthday, I think you should take a theatre and say you will do your one-woman show.’ So, I can’t honestly say I’ve retired!”

helma Ruby is both a marvel and a rarity. The veteran actress has not only enjoyed a career touching almost 80 years, featuring an enviable list of co-stars that reads like a Who’s Who, but remarkably she only just announced her retirement from stage and screen at the grand age of 97. Or so we had all thought.

Another personal highlight of her career was meeting Israel’s first female prime minister, Golda Meir. She and her actor husband Peter Frye, who were married from 1970 until his death in 1991, adapted the play Momma Golda about the premier’s life.

could see her face, but there were real tears pouring down her cheeks. Her face was suffused in sympathy. There’s one test of good acting and that is if you know how to listen. She was also just such a lovely person - there wasn’t anyone she didn’t know and care about.”

She says of visiting Golda Meir at her home: “If there hadn’t been a security man outside, you wouldn’t have known she was special. She lived in a simple bungalow and opened the door herself. She even made the tea! Golda, who was a known chain smoker, said to me: ‘I want you to do me a favour.’ I said of course, what is it Mrs Meir? She said, ‘I saw the original play, Golda, on Broadway and Anne Bancroft stooped. I don’t stoop!’ I told her, ‘I promise you I won’t stoop, but you are giving me another problem - I don’t smoke!’ We had a lovely afternoon.”

Only a few weeks ago, Thelma was invited by her broadcaster friend Gyles Brandreth and actress Joanna Lumley to

Ninety-seven...

Sarah Miller meets a remarkable actress whose worth is far more than rubies

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Disney celebrates its centenary in the new year. Debbie Collins reveals the chosen few who shaped the company and their relationship with its controversial founder

of its kind to be released with synchronised sound.

Born in 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, Walter Elias Disney loved to sketch from a young age and would sell his drawings to family and friends. In 1919, he moved to Kansas, seeking work as a newspaper cartoonist, but his brother Roy had bigger ideas for him, pushing him to gain employment at an art studio. It was there that Disney met Ub Iwerks, and the three of them eventually set up on their own. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of their first creations, was followed by the creation of Mickey Mouse and, while Disney had incredible drawing skills that brought to life the animation, it was chief animator Iwerks who made the Mouse mighty. The 1928

Walt supported many Jewish foundations, including the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York, so the very idea of him hating Jews becomes almost comedic, providing fodder for TV shows such as Family Guy and Saturday Night Live, o en portraying Walt Disney as a paranoid antisemite. These

FILM

Meryl Streep certainly had something to say on the matter in 2014 while presenting the best actress award to Emma Thompson for her role in Saving Mr Banks. But her speech, peppered as it was with accusations of misogyny and bigotry, while applauded in some camps was considered by others to be a distortion of the truth about Disney. So, while Walt did indeed join the antisemitic, anti-communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, one of his most important messages was that good will always triumph over evil. He was very clear that the aim of joining was to work positively against communism and fascism in film and American culture, alongside many of the Hollywood elite who joined him, including Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne and future US president Ronald Reagan.

With imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, in 1930s Egypt three young Jewish men – Herschel, Shlomo and David Frenkel – saw and loved what Disney had done with animation and, despite considerable political obstacles, pioneered cartoon animation. With the advent of Israeli independence in 1948, riots erupted against Egyptian Jews, and the Frenkels escaped to France. It was di icult to regain the level of success they’d had and their reels gathered dust. These films are now being restored in France, with their Egyptian homeland starting to recognise the significance of the brothers’ early work in the animated film industry.

Opinions aside, the Disney brand has brought happiness to many, and next year marks the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company and the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, so it’s a fitting time to look at the long and illustrious history of Disney’s cartoon studio, parks, cruises, franchises such as Pixar, and everyone’s favourite lockdown purchase – Disney+.

uring his lifetime, Mr Walt Disney was not considered particularly controversial but, a er his death in 1966, the Disney magic began to unravel; he was accused of being sexist, racist and antisemitic, with much of the information quite compelling. While some figures in history are totally irredeemable, Walt Disney’s supposed flaws are probably overlooked because of the joy he brought (and still brings) to billions.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 41

WhiteSnow and the DwarfsSeven , RebeccaPrincessin Elena of Avalor and Walt with Mickey Mouse characters

Israeli director Tal Michael covered the rise

are hardly factual shows, and most audiences appreciate that.

Neal Gabler, author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, carried out extensive research of the company’s archive and found no evidence of ill behaviour, “unless you count casual antisemitism that virtually every gentile at the time would have had”. Indeed, Gabler went on to comment on the many Jewish employees working there, so much so that Walt himself said the New York o ice had “more Jews than the Book of Leviticus”.

David, Shlomo and Herschel Frenkel with a poster for a Mish Mish film

A er Mickey Mouse came Minnie, Donald and Pluto, continually building on the Disney name. As he put it: “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”

DISNEY EXHIBITION was almost inevitable, but the one

and fall of the brothers in a 2019 documentary called Bukra fil Mish-Mish, highlighting character Mish-Mish E endi, the Mickey Mouse of the Arab world.

Until 16 October 2022. wallacecollection.org

led to the latter’s resignation. You’ll be glad to know he wasn’t unemployed for long, as he then co-founded DreamWorks Animation and made Shrek, which will have irked Disney.

the highest-grossing sound film at the time, earning Walt an honorary Oscar for the film. The studio grew in success and among the employees were many Jews, notably Art Babbitt, who received more than 80 awards, including those for developing the character of Goofy and animating the Wicked Queen in Snow White. However, the animators’ strike of 1941 le a feeling of resentment among sta over issues such as on-screen credit and inequalities over pay. Babbitt and David Hilberman (a fellow animator and Jew), joined the Screen Cartoonists Guild – a union – and Babbitt became a key member. While Babbitt was well remunerated, he was

Disney’s ‘Magic Kingdom’

Returning to the Disney timeline, the 1937 Christmas release of Disney’s first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was

42 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

Walt favoured the movie message that good would always triumph over evil, which keeps us watching the films (with or without children), and singing Disney songs. The Jewish Sherman Brothers wrote many of them, including The Bare Necessities, but The Lion King by Elton John and Tim Rice is the most popular, and the 2018 remake from Jewish director Jon Favreau is now Disney’s highest-rated animated movie ever, grossing $1.3bn.

However,antisemitic.nomatter

From 1984 to 2004 Michael Eisner (of a luent Jewish New York stock) was the CEO who made Disney a major film studio. He brought in Je rey Katzenberg as chairman and increased film production. It wasn’t all good, as their first computer-generated animated feature was the farkakte Black Cauldron, which cost $40m and bombed at the box o ice. This forced a move for the animation department from Burbank to Glendale, but the postcode downgrade led to the ‘Disney renaissance’ that began with The Little Mermaid, then Beauty and The Beast and Aladdin. Jewish CEOs also made a lot of deals, but the one with Pixar in 1991 delivered Toy Story and, a er that, DIsney’s market value rose from $2bn to $22bn). A broiges was almost inevitable, but the one between Eisner and Katzenberg

what folk thought of Walt, he worked tirelessly, going from one project to another, each one just as magical: a er Snow White came Bambi and Fantasia.

a man of the people and saw unfair wages and lack of privileges among the more junior sta . The strike irritated Walt and, as a result, Babbitt and Hilberman deemed Walt’s reaction

A er many a visit to theme parks with his family, Walt thought, ‘Why not a Disney themed one?’ and, in 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, designed and built under Walt’s supervision and o en referred to as ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’. Walt died in 1965, and Jewish businessmen have been involved ever since regardless of the founder’s alleged feelings.

Art Babbitt developed the character of Goofy

Je rey Katzenberg (above) was behind Shrek, and Jon Favreau successfully remade The Lion King in 2018

As emotional people, we love Disney’s tear-jerking storylines – think Mary Poppins flying away. It was in this 1964 film that Walt cast Jewish actor Ed Wynn as Uncle Albert. Make of that what you will. Even with Jews at the helm, it took until 2016 for Disney to give us a Jewish princess, in the form of Rebecca in Elena of Avalor, a tribute to Sephardic culture that felt good. Just as singing It’s A Small World will do next time you’re on a ride, because the Sherman Brothers wrote the song.

Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts at The Wallace Collection is a highly innovative take on the magic of Disney. This collaboration with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art displays shows how French 18th century rococo clocks, tea sets, carriages, furniture and paintings were transformed by 20th century American animation to be used in Disney films.

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He keeps it on a shelf by the window, should his daughter need it in a hurry. But that doesn’t happen any more.

attempts to explain the medical issues, but ultimately believes the stress of trying to ﬁnd out what happened to Mia is the real reason he lost his wife.

Mariano is convinced it will happen, and when it does, he will feel differently. But not about the way his family were fight

MARIANO JANIN WILL BE ALONE AGAIN THIS YOM KIPPUR. IN FOUR MONTHS HE LOST THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE. SOME THINK THEY KNOW HIS STORY, HE TOLD BRIGIT GRANT . BUT NOW HE WANTS THEM TO KNOW THE TRUTH A father’s

Mariano with his wife sorrow:

CAMPAIGN

Mia Janin, aged 15, took her own life on Friday 12 March 2021 because she was being bullied. In person and online. Her absence ﬁlls the house. Sorrow reverberates in every space. Where she once stood, cuddled her beloved toy

Husband and wife went to the same school and university in Buenos Aires, studied architecture, worked together and enjoyed cultural trips to Europe with an ever-curious Mia. Those are the memories to which Mariano clings, but not Marisa, as she died four months after her daughter.

48anddaughterMarisa,MiadogLola LIFE Survivingjewishnews.co.uk

He battles with answers to that question every day, surrounded by files Marisa collated, but there have been no answers, not even at the many continuing inquests. But Mariano, 58, didn’t agree to speak to Life Magazine to simply reiterate the details of his daughter’s final decision. He knows the community was shocked and that he is now recognised by people whose names he doesn’t know. They may have seen him on TV, as there is lots of media interest, and he is working with the NSPCC with other bereaved parents fighting for government changes in the way social media operates and grants (or doesn’t) parental access.

Diagnosed suddenly with an aneurysm, doctors attempting to treat Marisa then discovered she had acute myeloid leukaemia, which complicated treatment. Nothing could be done for her. Mariano

poodle, Lola, or mused about the life she might lead. “She was curious about medicine, but I think, probably, she will study Marianoarchitecture.”slipsunconsciously into the present tense as he talks about Mia, and it’s brutal. The hopes and dreams parents have for their children were stolen from him forever. Mariano could have spent the years ahead reminiscing about his only child with her mother, Marisa.

M ia Janin was a cheerleader. She also went to Sylvia Young Theatre School at weekends and to Camden with friends. And she loved music. All kinds of music, because she grew up to the sounds of opera, jazz and bossa nova that her South American parents enjoyed. She had her own favourites and memorably danced around the living room to Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights. An avid reader, Mia was captivated by Emily Bronte’s novel

that inspired the song and she saw two ﬁlm adaptations. “She preferred the one made in 1939,” says her father, Mariano, and places Mia’s copy of Wuthering Heights on the table.

Given the middle name Vera after her father’s youngest sister who died in the Holocaust, Marisa then honoured Roshi, the brother he lost, by giving Mia the Hebrew name of Rachel.

Har HaZetim. I have learned since that to get a place there is very hard. And one day that’s where...” His voice trails away and he gets up. He is crying. “Excuse me,” he apologises, needlessly, because I am crying too.

Solace eludes Mariano, who doesn’t believe in anything except God. When a friend gave him a copy of Dr Edith Eger’s The Choice: Embrace the Possible, which is described as ‘the key to freedom for those imprisoned within their own minds’, he liked it. He was also intrigued by the eminent psychologist author because she is an Auschwitz survivor, now aged 94, who worked with veterans and victims of physical and mental trauma.

“Last Yom Kippur I spent the whole day at home. I fast, but didn’t feel the need to go to shul. In this house I have Yizkor every day.”

treated by the Jewish community. “I’m not talking about all of the UK or even all of London, but there are people in north-west London who are cliquey and self-entitled and who decide who their children should socialise with and if your postcode ﬁts. This was my family’s experience when we arrived in London, and it continued. That’s why we preferred the acceptance of the Chabad congregation. For them, it doesn’t matter where you come from – you’re a Jew.”

Mariano is still deeply troubled by the lack of support from those who retreated and stuck together and by Mia’s school. “No one phoned me from the school. Not one call. No one was forthcoming about what happened. Just silence.”

• Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service: 020 8951 3881 – jbcs.org.uk

Mia loved music, was curious about medicine and adored her dog, Lola, who stays at her father’s side

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 49

Mariano will never be silent. “I have nothing to lose,” he says. “No one took accountability for what happened to Mia and nothing has changed. The same governors were at the school. It had happened before. If bullies get impunity, they don’t learn any lessons.”

Without change, Mariano thinks, there will be more cases like Mia’s. “Something is missing – the transmission of basic Jewish values. The school is governmentfunded, but governed by a religious body. They can manage marriages and burials, but don’t know about educating children in today’s “Children’sworld.lives are so different to when we were young. They are bullied and cyberbullied and they are much less resilient after spending two years being socially isolated through the pandemic.”

The graves of Marisa and her daughter, Mia, in the Chabad section on the Mount of Olives

“The friend who gave me her book set up a Zoom with her for me. It was meant to be for 20 minutes but we spoke for two hours. She was amazing and told me that when you survive you are alone and see things in a different way because your perspective changes. You realise that life is a ﬁnite thing.”

That he is able to converse at all and occasionally smile suggests that Mariano is a survivor, but he is a long way from giving up a victim’s blame. How can he, when among his many happy family photos is the distressing image of two graves on Har HaZetim (The Mount of Olives). Marisa’s name is on one and the grave beside her is marked Mia.

“I’m glad my parents didn’t see what happened to me. When we lose our parents, it’s always painful, but it’s the natural order. We miss them, but we accept it, moving forward as an orphan. When I lost Marisa, I became a widower. Interestingly, there is no word in English, Spanish, Hebrew or possibly any language to deﬁne someone who loses a child. It’s just ‘tragedy’.”

“Marisa didn’t want Mia to be buried in Bushey or Edgwarebury cemeteries,” says Mariano. “She wanted to take Mia out of this country to Israel. Everybody said it would be impossible, but we found space for her in the Chabad section of

family from the town of Pápa. He never talked of his experiences to Marisa, whose cousin is the Chief Rabbi in Russia, but she organised the testimony he gave to the Steven Spielberg Foundation and his German reparation payments.”

I meet with Mariano a week after Marisa’s yahrzeit. He will spend another Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur without her and without Mia. Only Lola, who never leaves his side, will be there.

“My wife used to say that if her father [Alexander Neumann] could see how his granddaughter was bullied in a Jewish school, he would turn in his grave. He survived four concentration camps and was the sole survivor of a huge Hungarian

Mariano is not religious but says: “I believe in us – the Jews and the codes and values of Judaism that allow us to

Mariano’s muted anger is etched across his tired face. He has been diagnosed with giant cell arteritis, a serious vascular illness he has under control, but it’s exacerbated by stress. The kind of stress born out of being denied justice. Marisa Janin never went upstairs again after Mia died and her room is how she left it. Her father is not ready to face what needs to be done.

Mariano’s Austrian grandparents sought safety in Argentina, but they and his parents are gone now. He has a sister in Mexico and another in Jerusalem as his support network; cousins around the globe and London friends who refused to leave him alone when Marisa died.

“I don’t know if I will ever get any kind of closure. Friends say I should meet another woman, start another family. This will not give me closure. I will not replace my lovely wife and daughter with another... I don’t need to fall in love again because I knew real love.”

survive. But I also think when you pray, you need to understand the words and pray from your heart. You also need to teach your kids to be respectful. There are 613 mitzvot to follow.”

Mariano had another Zoom with the author, who sent him a copy of her book, The Gift: A Survivor’s Journey to Freedom, including her list that determines the difference between survivors and victims.

And he is so deliciously Jewish, with his “Oy” after each bite or impromptu hunt for rugelach in Zabar’s NYC. The most precious Jewish element is the inclusion of his parents, Helen and Max, on video calls, littered with misheard words and interruptions. “I still think they were the best part of the show,” says Phil.

enough.”Thathe catapulted his parents to stardom in their twilight years makes him happy.

“It’s the response I get. I was just out driving, heard a honk, and saw a family in the next car waving wildly at me. So I rolled down the window and they told me how much they love the show. I would be crazy to want to give up the beautiful interaction I have with people.” And that’s what he gets wherever he goes, as well as acceptance from his Jewish fans, who look the other way when he salivates over prawns or goes lobster trawling – then eats them.

Phil isn’t religious, but always fasts on Yom Kippur. “I do it because it ties me to my roots, to my parents, their parents and beyond. I feel it in a spiritual way, not a religious way, if that make sense? I see it as good for the soul. And what bigger sacrifice is there for a food fan than fasting?”

That there will be more seasons of Somebody Feed Phil is surely a no-brainer for Netflix, as there is nothing more enjoyable than watching the gregarious fellow who co-wrote Everybody Loves Raymond fly somewhere to nosh. But there’s more to it than that for Phil.

INTERVIEW

star chef Daniel Boulud, who gave Helen’s matzo ball soup four stars

his wife of 60 years, died in 2019. That they were both a ‘good age’– as the cliché goes – rarely helps the bereaved and Phil is no exception. “It’s never enough. Not when you love them. I have friends now in their nineties who are passing away. If you see people often and love them, it’s never long

“My mother always claimed not to care, until she was recognised in the street. Then she lit up like a Christmas tree.”Having spent his early years in New York with little money, Phil wanted to take his parents to the restaurants he once saved up to visit. “They thought I was out of my mind spending $100 on a dinner, when I could barely afford rent. So when I could afford to take them to French restaurant Lutèce (now closed), they went just to humour me. My mother complained until she took a bite of the food, then said: ‘This happens to be very good.’”

www.philrosenthalworld.com

Given Phil’s taste for ‘haute cuisine’, one might assume (wrongly) that his mother had honed his taste buds; she wasn’t a great cook. However, she did get a four-star rating for her matzo ball soup from Michelinstarred chef Daniel Boulud (episode 6/ season 2). “You’re either brought up with great food and appreciate it or you seek it out. My dad just wanted what he wanted and finished whatever was put in front of him. Give him fluffy scrambled eggs, and he was the happiest man in the world. ‘Are my eggs fluffy?’ is the inscription on his gravestone; on my mother’s, beside his, it says – ‘I’m listening to the opera.’ That’s what they cared about most.”

“There’sseasons.an audio version with behindthe-scenes dialogue too – it’s a multimedia experience,” adds Phil, who is donating

ne thing’s for sure. Phil Rosenthal will never go hungry. And he won’t ever have to wait for a table, because his face gets him to the front of a restaurant queue. “I will stand in line if I really want something, as not everyone has seen the show,” he concedes. “But the worst words in the world are – ‘Do you know who I am?’ I never want to be that guy.”

all book proceeds to the Rosenthal Family Foundation, which runs school arts projects led by his wife, actress Monica Horan, assisted by children Lily and Ben. “I’ve been blessed. Anything I can do to give back is a privilege and an honour.”

Phil could never be ‘that guy’. Channelling boundless charm, he gets bestie hugs from chefs in the world’s best eateries. For five seasons – with a sixth due to air from 18 October – his Netflix hit show, Somebody Feed Phil, has made him the most wanted diner. Whether he’s eating gold egg in Lisbon’s 2 Michelin star Belcanto or kvelling over a herring sandwich at Tel Aviv’s Sherry Herring, as viewers we subliminally enjoy the food too.

We enjoy watching Phil Rosenthal eat as much as he enjoys eating. But it’s about more than food, he tells Brigit Grant ahead of the fast TO LOVE Somebody

Holocaust survivor Max Rosenthal died last June at the age of 96, and Helen, 86,

And Phil, of course, who pays tribute to them in the final episode of season 6, which made him cry. His parents’ greatest hits also feature in his new book, a companion to the series, which contains the most requested recipes from the first four

Phil’s late parents, Helen and Max; Phil, the first Jewish lobster trawler in Maine (season 5) and with his parents and Michelin

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Mirroring the experience with Desert19, Maisa Halaby-Elshiekh, a religious Druze woman who wanted to help the women around her, started her company, Lotus, with funding from Si3 at the start of the pandemic. She started

“They o en come from dysfunctional and disadvantaged backgrounds but with this scheme they are learning skills for the future. We have so many happy stories from it but one of my favourites was a girl who had had a tough time at home and hadn’t been to school for two years. A er being on the scheme, she went back to school and is flourishing.”

A lot of the schemes are aimed at training people not only to help themselves but to help others.

others. While ‘renewable’ is a term most used when it comes to the environment, it is also apt here; the organisations funded by Si3, which are chosen carefully by a team of experts in London, are able to use and reuse that funding, changing their environment for the better.

Altogether the organisation has 19 projects in its portfolio, ranging from a bank specifically for Ethiopian origin entrepreneurs and a company that uses gaming to break down barriers between di erent groups in Israel, to a child-run chocolate factory that gives struggling kids a wage and confidence.Thechocolate factory scheme

They are just a few of the beneficiaries of a relatively new form of giving called investment funding. The company Roberta works for and the one Maisa leads are both beneficiaries of vital start-up funding from British donors to the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA).

slim; the only big employers were the two hotels and while

“When I first worked as a remote PA, it allowed me to meet my basic needs – I could work and feed my children. It was life changing,” says Roberta. “As time has moved on, I was promoted and am now head of the department and am doing a job I am proud of.”

is called Gvanim Shel Matok, which is translated as ‘shades of sweetness’. It takes place in several sites in community centres for teenagers who are struggling with schooling to get them o the streets. Si3 has helped fund special kitchens where, in 40 minutes, teenagers can create something beautiful and delicious that is then sold.

WHEN ROBERTA SHEM TOV, who lives in the Negev, split from her husband, she didn’t know how she was going to manage the house and feed her five children while also looking a er them.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 53

in India and everyone

“We see it as a sort of incubation scheme – they learn so much on it and we hope that a er they have been through it, they return to school or into the workforce,” says social worker Shlomi Forkosh. “At the centre we have all sorts of things to help our children, but this is one of our most successful because they get paid to do training, and by working they are accountstotoolsgivechocolate.themandjustempowered.“Wedon’ttrainthemhavemakingWethemlifelikehowopenbankandweshowthem

On the other side of Israel, in the Carmel mountains near Haifa, Druze teacher Maisa Halaby-Elshiekh was pondering how women in her community could find satisfying work outside of the house while still abiding to rules that didn’t allow them to leave their village. Just a few years later, she has close to 100 women working for a hi-tech hub leading teams of coders all over the world – yet still remaining in their village.

Living in Mitzpe Ramon, for Roberta work opportunities were slim; the only big employers

Maisa Halaby-Elshiekh

“For many of the women it is the first time they have had a salary and the first time they have independence; when you get that it changes your mindset and how you value yourself,” says Maisa. “I hear a lot from the women about how they appreciate themselves – they have powers they didn’t realise.“Ithas an impact on their husbands and even on their children, who are proud to see their mums work and want to learn more themselves about computer science. The women are now part of teams in Israel with people from other sections of society and internationallyeven–we are working a lot with people in India and everyone has become very friendly. This is true diversity in action, and I am so proud of what we do.”

The Si3 initiative (S for ‘social’ and three letter ‘i’s for Impact Investment in Israel) means that money donated doesn’t fall into an endless pit of need but, like a pebble being thrown into a pond, ripples out to

This is true diversity in and to

Nicole Lampert discovers how ‘investment funding’ in people is restoring hope and changing lives

Lotus, with funding from Si3 at the start of the pandemic. She started learn more themselves about computer science. The women are now part of teams in Israel with people from other sections of society and internationallyeven–we are

For more information and to si3.ujia.orghelp:

most successful because they

‘We don’t just train them. We give them life tools’

Workers at one of chocolate maker Gvanim Shel Matok’s sites

The organisation she works with, Desert19 – which had funding for an o ice from Si3 –allows women to work in a range of services such as marketing, graphic design and PA services remotely in their own hours.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

with 14 women; they were taught to code and are now experts in the high-tech knowledge that is driving Israel’s economy. She now has more than 65 employees, with another 30 signed up for the next training, and the scheme has been endorsed by the Druze religious leadership.

But then she heard about a new scheme that trained and gave work to women who could work as virtual PAs.

how important it is to be on time for things. They get involved with the running of the company and they make decisions. But they also have fantastic opportunities – recently they had a stand at a conference, and they got to meet the head of the Mossad.

she worked as a receptionist, the shi s were impossible for a single mother of five.

THE HUMAN

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You may hear the Israeli Institute of Technology mentioned in conjunction with the level of innovations for which the country is known, but how exactly is the Technion changing lives?

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 57

a high proportion of women will need a hysterectomy at some point during their lifetime. Yet despite transvaginal surgery being recommended over abdominal owing to it being safer, less invasive and more cost-e ective, very few have traditionally been carried out in this way.

Those with various speech di iculties, such as cerebral palsy, autism, ALS (a motor neurone disease) and Parkinson’s disease, are now able to make smartthroughunderstoodthemselvestheirdevices

because of this innovative app. Designed by experts in algorithms and linguistics, VoiceItt uses personalised speech model technology that can learn the unique way a person speaks, be it slurred pronunciation, a heavy accent or a di erent language.

Hysterectomy surgeries have been revolutionised by this flexible robotic ‘mini surgeon’. It is one of the most common elective surgical procedures worldwide –

Small but mighty, this tiny, swallowedenoughcameracapsule-encasedwireless,issmalltobeinorder

This innovative drug delivery platform – based on a decade of discoveries – is making heavy strides in the treatment of cancer, owing to its groundbreaking way of transporting medicine. Loading the drugs in adult stem cells, they are then taken directly to the tumour site. This not only allows the reduction of the drug dosage by a factor of a million, but makes the treatment far more targeted and e ective without –crucially – damaging healthy raisedHavingcells.already$5m(£4m), it

has successfully treated pancreatic, lung, breast, prostate and brain cancer in mice and is on track to begin clinical trials next year.NanoGhost has been acknowledged as one of Israel’s 60 most impactful developments and discoveries, according to its Ministry of Science and Technology.

This start-up is working on di erent trials to revolutionise the way cancer is treated. A simple blood test – the result of a decade’s research – could soon allow doctors to provide personalised treatment plans to cancer patients, following trials that have focused on patients diagnosed with advanced stages of melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer.

It can be integrated with Amazon’s Alexa, and users can even build a personal dictionary of words and phrases that the app can understand within five minutes! By making speech recognition accessible to everyone, this is an absolute game changer for those with disabilities, increasing their independence and quality of life.

The smallest, farthest-reaching surgical system that is FDA-authorised for use during gynaecological procedures, it is hopefully only a matter of time before this, too, becomes available on the NHS, especially as the company behind it has said the system would be sold at a significantly lower price than its competitors.

2. Hominis

PillCam

4. NanoGhost

5. OncoHost

It recently raised $35m in funding to launch the blood test that may rewrite the standard of care for precise cancer treatment. It joins the company’s diagnostic platform PROphet, which uses artificial intelligence to predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy before providing a personalised treatment plan that helps provide clinicians with potential combination strategies to overcome treatment resistance.

Obviously, in an ideal world, we would never need any of these things. But we can rest assured that, should the worst happen, Technion has got our back (and every other part of the body, too). and cells. raised $5m (£4m),

TECHNOLOGY

Thanks to the Hominis robotic surgery system, however, which features human-level dexterity and flexibility of 360 degrees with arms that successfully replicate a surgeon’s hand, shoulder, elbow and wrist joints – controlled by said surgeon from the Hominis Surgical System console – that is now changing.

LIFE,

Around 11,000 patients in England across 40 areas of the country took part in an initial trial in the hope that this would both replace more invasive methods of screening and save lives. This groundbreaking invention has since expanded, with the Royal Free London continuing to use each capsule type, which – along with the small bowel – also includes the upper gastrointestinal tract and colon. Around 42,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK each year.

to film tumours in the gut, supporting early detection of Crohn’s disease, bowel cancer, obscure bleeding or anaemia. Using breakthrough technology, such as advanced optics and imaging, a ‘TV studio’ is squeezed into a jelly bean-sized capsule, providing a video recording that can span the entire six metres of the small bowel and seven metres of the digestive tract from the mouth to the rectum.

Alan Aziz, CEO of Technion UK, highlights five life-changing inventions developed in Israel but not as we know it

3. VoiceItt

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clean growth sector lead at the UK Israel Tech Hub, explains: “The ‘start up nation’ has been coping with challenges from the get-go. With the sword of survival hanging above its neck by the threats made (and executed) by its neighbouring countries, together with a very small territory, hot weather, lacking swamps and huge deserts, thenationyounghadmany

adoption of alternative proteins has the slow climate change,” is leading the innovation, natural swampsresources,andhugedeserts,theyoungnationhadmany products

Hadar Huberman,

and

The country is home to more than 400 foodtech companies, more than 100 of which are in alternative proteins. More than 40 percent of these are considered start-ups whose breakthrough technology has the potential to help shape the future of our food. Exciting Israeli companies include Wilk (formerly BioMilk), MeaTech, Aleph Farms, Redefine Meat, Future Meat, and ChickP. There is also Remilk, Plantish, Mermade Seafoods and Maolac, to name just a Whatfew.makes Israel so well-positioned to innovate in this area? Allie Feuerstein, director of new business and international investor relations at OurCrowd, one of Israel’s most active venture firms, says: “Foodtech combines Israel’s two strongest assets – agriculture and technology. Israel has advanced its agriculture sector immensely in the last half century, and this know-how is now driving innovation in foodNogatechnology.”SelaShalev is CEO of the Fresh Start foodtech incubator in Kiryat Shmona, a government-backed incubator. She says:

Israel is at the forefront of meatless manufacture the

The market for alternative meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood products is forecast to reach at least $290bn (£248bn)by 2035, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group and Blue Horizon Corporation. Unsurprisingly, Israeli foodtech has become a tasty prospect for global investors, attracting money from some of the world’s largest food corporations such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Heineken and Unilever.

s the climate crisis poses a mounting threat to our planet and its people, an array of Israeli food technologies may hold the secret to secure the future. From fish made from plants to 3D printed meat, Israeli companies are creating astounding opportunities to tackle the food industry’s biggest challenges: feeding an thewithoutandfooddiminishingwithpopulationescalatingsuppliescreatingfoodsdamagingenvironment.

Israel is leading the innovation, particularly in relation to the last one.

“But it’s the strong Israeli foodtech community that differentiates it from all others. It is what allows the creativity and speed needed to bring breakthrough solutions, to disrupt the wasteful, polluting food industry”

Food tech is no longer a novelty; it’s a necessity. Food production contributes more than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, much of it from dairy farming and meat production. According to the Good Food Institute (GFI) – a non-profit organisation that seeks to promote research and innovation in food technology – a transition away from animal protein “has the potential to deliver 14 to 20 percent of the emissions mitigation the world needs until 2050 to stay below 1.5°C.” The adoption of alternative proteins has the potential to “dramatically slow climate change,” McKinsey alternativeandtech,restaurantretailingredients,meat,systems,safety,packaging,includingseveralFoodtechreports.coversareas,nutrition,foodprocessingculturednovelandhealthwellnessandproteins.

challenges to solve, and fast. It is no surprise Israel can also be the country that will produce the technologies that would support the world’s adaptation and mitigation of the changing climate.”

“Understanding the incredible negative impact our food system has on climate change and the planet, Israel is positioned at the forefront of this growing field of “Wheninnovation.I’masked what’s the ‘secret sauce’, I explain it’s a unique combination of a globally-aspiring entrepreneurial culture; a supportive R&D [research and development] and financial structure provided by the Israeli innovation authority and the private sector; and deep research and know-how in agriculture, biotech and data reliant software.

Marco Pierre White is a fan of Redefine productsplant-basedMeat’s creating foods without damaging the environment.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 59

CANDICE KRIEGER CHARTS THE RISE AND RISE OF ISRAELI INNOVATION IN FOODTECH

Strauss Group and the Israel Innovation Authority, in collaboration with professor Shulamit Levenberg of Technion’s Biomedical Engineering faculty.

putting together a budget to support researchers pursuing new food tech.

Eli Nir, a senior investment partner at the company, explains: “The planet has a rapidly rising population and there are already acute shortages of fresh water and food. People are starving and we have the solutions to save them. Through innovation, we can replace meat and dairy proteins in short supply with alternatives that don’t harm the environment. We can reduce land, water and fertiliser use while increasing food production. Israel is emerging as a world power in the new generation of food and agriculturalOurCrowdtechnology.”currentlyhas 10 foodtech start-ups in its portfolio, including Remilk, Mermade Seafoods, Plantish and Maolac.

“It is now a scientific consensus that, if we keep going this way, by 2030 we will eliminate the ability to keep the planet sustainable for the medium term.”

“The data around animal agriculture as a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions is staggering,” says Aviv Wolff, Remilk CEO. “Imagine that cows were a country: a recent McKinsey report showed that such a country would be the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, second only to China! Today, foodtech is where Israeli innovation meets the global climate“Remilkchallenge.takes up the gauntlet in the battle against climate change by producing identical dairy protein without using a single cow. The combination of a scalable dairy protein with the sheer impact that precision fermentation has on the carbon footprint is catching the attention of global corporates and policy makers, setting the stage for significant investments in the field and paving the way towards a better tomorrow.”

CEO and co-founder Maya Ashkenazi Otmazgin, says: “Though sustainability is essential, we must ensure that healthy and nutritious food is equally important. In order to fulfil both agendas, we have to use current technologies from the pharmaceutical world to establish relevant methods in the food industry. Only then will we create a difference.”

There is also a trend away from dairy production. Remilk, a developer of animalfree dairy – which has raised $130m so far – secured the second-largest investment raised by an Israeli food tech start-up and the single largest in a cow-free dairy company.

Mermade is on a mission to create seafood from cells, subsequently cutting production costs. This could be a game changer because growth media have made alternative proteins prohibitively expensive. Daniel Einhorn, CEO and co-founder, says: “I know for a fact it would lead to a huge calamity if we didn’t have these [food] technologies. Our future is definitely in the hands of Mermade and other food and climate tech companies.

“Reducing meat consumption is a growing cultural trend in Israel,” says Ari Ben Dror, assistant director at GFI Israel. “The nation has the highest percentage of vegans and vegetarians in the developed world. It’s safe to say Israelis are comparatively well-informed about the environmental harms of meat production. Yet, globally, Israel is number one in per capita poultry consumption and number four in per capita beef consumption. So, clearly, diet change is not the solution to this“GFI’sproblem.number one goal is for governments to put resources into both open access R&D [research and development] in the field of alternative proteins, as well as promote private sector incentives for R&D and manufacturing. This is about producing the exact product people love and want to eat – but from plants and from cell cultivation. The whole climate community is advocating for decarbonising energy, but they are almost all completely asleep in the meat industry, beyond suggesting people should eat less meat.”

The Israeli government recognises foodtech as a huge growth opportunity. In June, it earmarked more than $1m for an Alternative Protein Research Grant Programme with the ministries of agriculture, innovation, science and technology in partnership with GFI Israel,

Israeli cultivated meat companies raised $507m in 2021, led by Future Meat, which raised $347m for a production plant in the US, and Aleph Farms, which raised $105m. Redefine Meat, which counts Marco Pierre White among its fans, netted a further $135m this year to help with its expansion plans.

60 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

OurCrowd has been investing in Israeli foodtech since 2013. It recently launched a targeted $30m FoodTech Fund and will seek to invest in 15 to 20 foodtech companies.

Israeli start-up Maolac identifies and separates proteins from bovine colostrum – the first milk produced by mammals for newborns, millions of gallons of which are dumped each year – to create protein-rich complexes and superfood ingredients.

Aviv Wolff, CEO of Remilk, and (top) Plantish’s whole-cut vegan ‘salmon’ fillet

Earlier this year, Rehovot-based Plantish unveiled the world’s first vegan, whole-cut ‘salmon’ fillet. It is made using a proprietary blend of plant proteins and patent-pending technology with all the nutritional value of realOfeksalmon.Ron, Plantish co-founder and CEO, says: “It’s really exciting to be a part of an ecosystem that pushes the boundaries of what is possible. At Plantish, our mission is to save our oceans by creating a delicious, safer and more sustainable source of seafood, made from plants.”

Alternative protein in Israel experienced its biggest investment year on record last year, according to GFI Israel, with startups in the space raising $623m. In total, just over one billion shekels (£275m) was raised during the first half of 2022 – a 160% increase from last year, with Israel coming second only to the US in raising investments in the field.

Perhaps one of the country’s most significant and original incubators is The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, owned by the

Cultivated meat company Aleph Farms

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 61

the Middle East, where the vast majority of the meat/beef is imported. As such, governments are especially interested in the benefits of cultivated meat. Beyond enabling us to better manage natural resources and increase food quality,

Its co-founder and CEO, Didier Toubia, says: “Food security is a critical issue in

combining innovative production systems (like cultivated meat) with sustainable agriculture increases the overall resilience of food systems by diversifying our food supply – a key to bolstering resistance to shocks. These production systems would allow us to produce food anywhere, anytime, independent of water, land and climate, and with shorter, predictable and more resilient supply chains, making us less fragile in the face of future shocks.

from private investors.

Israeli start-up Maolac separates proteins from bovine colostrum to create ‘superfood’ ingredients

was co-founded and nurtured by The Kitchen Hub – a prime example of what can result from effective collaboration between government, industry and academics in Israel.

Huberman says: “Prior to COP26, Israel announced a target of net zero emissions by 2050, and the decision has started moving from strategy to operative mode. The combination of these facts provides a tremendous stimulation to the Israeli tech ecosystem to pivot and target the climate tech field. The governmental encouragement will join the already existing passion of Israeli entrepreneurs to generate impact and cultivate solutions for the world’s climate challenge, which will doubtlessly position Israel as a global powerhouse of climatetech.”

Israel’s foodtech sector is intensifying. But so is climate change. It is clear that both private and public sector support is needed at all levels to foster alternative protein growth and innovation, ensuring that Israel becomes a superpower and continues to play a key role in securing its future, and that of the wider world. It is certainly in pole position to do so.

“The result would be a feedback loop in which sustainability strengthens resilience and vice versa. For innovation to support a transition of our food systems back into balance, business strategies and policy agendas need to align more firmly.”

Earlier this year, GFI Israel published a report urging the government to put together a national strategy to support the country’s growing foodtech industry if it hopes to maintain a key role in the sector over the coming years. Part of this strategy would include building an infrastructure to support the local industry, in the form of multidisciplinary research centres, technology transfer programs, research grants and training, and specific innovation hubs for cultivated meat, plant-based proteins, and fermentation tech start-ups. The GFI report suggested about NIS 1.4bn ($450m) will be required over the next 10 years to set out on this path, with the Israeli government supplying about 56 percent of this funding, with the rest drawn

Jonathan Morris, a partner and coleader of the Israel Practice and the Food and Agribusiness Practice at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, says: “Israel’s burgeoning foodtech sector has a critical role to play in helping us meet the twin challenges of food security and sustainability. Both the Israel Innovation Authority and the private sector must continue to invest in new foodtech start-ups as they seek to bring innovative products to the market.”

@PROMISEPHOTOGRAPHYUK

PHOTO:

DOMINIKA MIECHOWSKA@VIOLIN_DARIUSPHOTO: ANNA ROUSSOS

DAVID PULLMAN

PHOTO:

DOMINIKA MIECHOWSKA

Contact us – Tel: (01494) 782 743 E-mail: info@tgbss.co.uk Web: www.tgbss.co.uk/events THE GREAT BRITISH SPORTS SHOW – Experts in the rental and delivery of fun, sporting events and activities worldwide. Our amazing stock includes Hi-Tech Games, Inflatables, Sports Activities, Fan Parks, Props, Branding and much more & we can build to your bespoke needs. www.football-fiesta.co.uk/sports-city/ SPORTS CITY REVOLUTIONISING THE HIGH STREET WITH HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE, ACTIVE FUN! @ Opening 12th November 2022 on Watford High Street, book your Tickets, Parties and Events now. Hi-Tech Games Corporate Events Exergame Zone Birthday Parties AllEducationAgesNew TechnologyAccessible GamesFootball SkillsEsports Arena

When Kushan is not making foodie magic in Borehamwood, he is catering functions large and small from private dinners and barmitzvahs to weddings and launch parties for Amazon – yes, really. Last month, he catered an enchanted forest-themed dinner to celebrate the new series of Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power. Rather ﬁtting really, as Kushan is deﬁnitely lord of the kitchen. LW

www.cacaobeanrestaurant.co.uk

Go to Bhageecha. Take a friend who doesn’t do spicy. Even better, take one who’ll drive you, as the cocktails looked amazing. AJ www.bhageecha.com

Cacao

A beautifully refreshing and exceptionally pretty glass poke bowl is the perfect way to start a feast such as this, while a rich Japanese-style fish soup with chunks of salmon and creamy confit garlic combines sunny flavours with autumnal warmth. The blackened cod is here, with grilled bok choi, and a sweet and sour tofu with mixed veg and toasted sesame seeds.

LORD OF THE KITCHEN

Bean Café Bhageecha Bhageecha

SPICE OF LIFE Indian is my cuisinefavouriteand I have carried out restaurants.ﬁnd‘research’extensivetothebest

Bean Café Cacao Bean Café

RESTAURANT PICK OF RESTAURANTS TO VISIT THIS AUTUMN. BY LOUISA WALTERS AND ANGIE JACOBSANGIE

Bhageecha

64 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

Cacao Bean Café opened in Leeming Road, Borehamwood, earlier this year, with a bi-monthly carousel of tapas menus. The first two were general tapas with some outstanding signature dishes, such as blackened cod and miso aubergine, and then Kushan started to specialise. In July, he opened up the bifold doors to welcome in the sunshine as he launched a Sri Lankan menu focusing on dishes from his home country. This month, as the evenings start to draw in, he is taking us to Japan with a longerthan-usual list of exotic dishes and twists on regularKushanfavourites.hasaunique gift for putting flavours and textures together, so that the humble cauliflower comes to life with a five-spice coating, before being roasted to a succulent finish and crunched up with toasted peanuts. A best-end rack of lamb is elevated to meaty stardom with a miso glaze and shiso pesto.

He has worked in hotels and restaurants, been to catering college, worked for a catering company, set up his own catering company, and now set up his own restaurant – is there any avenue that Kushan Marthelis won’t explore to bring his unique and exceptional cooking to the table?

catering dinners and barmitzvahs to weddings ofof Power

FOOD

Cacao

Bhageecha in Elstree numbers amongWhatthem.was once The Fishery pub and restaurant has been totally revamped and is now modern and spacious, with a ﬂoral theme running throughout its Passi Flora bar, Bloom and palm room.

My companion was a friend who doesn’t do spicy and is a slow eater – her losses, my gains. Our waitress pointed out the milder dishes and she tried the kurkure bhindi – crispy fried okra (India’s answer to zucchini fritti), while I went for the pani puri – puffed wheat bubbles filled with potato and served alongside a teapot of tangy water. One takes the puri and fills it with the liquid, eating it in one go. They were very spicy and I had to take all six for the team. A vegetarian dum biriyani was tastier than it sounds, but I didn’t pay attention to my friend’s chicken dish, not being in my ‘no-meat-out’ radar. Neither did I look at the signature dishes, fish mains or appetiser platters. They will have to wait for next time. The desserts sounded amazing. We were full, but I heard myself asking for a kulfi with two spoons.

OUR

My husband was all over the yakitori beef short ribs with yuzu-buttered beans, but I held back to make room for a fudge-like miso crème brûlée with lime sorbet.

SOHO VEGGIE

Despite Melissa’s main attraction being meat (massive portions of delicious-looking charcoal-grilled skewers of lamb and chicken), we managed to find plenty to eat. We began with mixed starters of hummus, falafel, cacık (tsatsiki), tarama and patlıcan sosu (delicious peppers and aubergine in a tomato sauce) with never-ending offers of more pita bread.

For mains, we had sea bream and sea bass. Mine was with rice, my husband’s with chips (which he wolfed down before I could get a look in). The fish was extremely fresh and tasty. Had I closed my eyes, I could have imagined I was eating it in a little family-run restaurant on the shores of the Mediterranean.

There’s also a large high-stool counter seating area around the bar, rough hewn walls, industrial lights and plants hanging from the ceiling and it’s very lively. So far, so fun. The cocktail list is short but cute (a lemon and lavender spritz for my daughter); the wine list is fairly extensive with interesting-sounding wines, such as Uovo and Sketta (which is orange and delicious).

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 65

We wanted everything on the menu. We had a tahini-based grapefruit ‘ezme’ into which we dipped soft and chewy laffa (other options are challah and pita), then a leek and amba (mango sauce) skewer and a charred oyster mushroom skewer, both of which were superb – one delightfully sweet, the other deeply savoury. Next was plate of fabulous falafel with sumac onions and halloumi baked in fennel honey, which was hands-down the bestThere’sdish.

cauliflower, of course – a large quarter with leaves ‘n’ all, cooked to a crisp and served with tomato and yoghurt to dip it into. Confit potato latkes are unlike any latkes you’ve ever had and vesuvio tomatoes with mango and cumin are sunny and full of flavour – just divine. Naturally, there’s malabi for dessert and, naturally, it has a twist, in the form of a sour cherry purée and crushed peanut butter brittle on the top. We had little coconut and tahini fudge squares too. This was a stunning meal. Did I mention it’s a totally veggie restaurant? There’s absolutely no meat or fish. None. Did I miss them? Absolutely not! LW www.bubala.co.uk

Oak &

HAMPSTEAD HAVEN

Owner Cetin shared that he is opening a second branch soon in Harrow. If it’s anything like Melissa in Canons Park, it will be well worth a visit. AJ www.melissarestaurant.co.uk

Summers and Helen Graham have opened their second branch of Middle Eastern vegetarian restaurant Bubala, whose original Spitalfields venue I went to last year when restrictionsCovidwerestill in place, meaning we had to Eat Up and Get Out by 10pm. It is sacrilege to rush a meal with this level of innovation, this complexity of flavours, this standard of cooking.TheSoho branch is larger than its sister venue, with an open kitchen at the back.

It’s a gorgeous blush pink and gold haven of prettiness, with a magnificent central tree climbing up to a stunning retractable glass roof (like being on Centre Court!) so it’s like being outside even when you’re inside... just like at TheTheSummerhouse.foodisfabulous and well-priced. We started with fish tacos, duck bao buns, quesadillas and mac and cheese bites –thumbs-up all round. Then beautiful pan-fried lemon sole, lovely and thick. A half rotisserie chicken with so much flavour and so tender, and a burger that presented as two.

Melissa in Canons Park is a great venue for a good Turkish nosh-up. A spacious restaurant with beautiful chandeliers, colourful Byzantine murals and attentive staff makes for an extremely pleasant and relaxed dining experience. Two plasma screens showed reels of exotic holiday destinations and, more than once, my husband’s attention wandered to them from my scintillating conversation.

There were vegetarian options too – everyone is catered for at Melissa. We were stuffed but tempted by the extensive dessert menu, Tony choosing baklava, which came with squirty cream and chocolate sauce and me a Tartufo Scuro – a coffee and egg cream bombe style ice cream.

Bubala

TURKISH TREAT

It takes a brave man to open a restaurant these days... and a brilliant one to get it right. And brave, brilliant Mitch Tillman of The Summerhouse and The Waterway has got it absolutely right with his latest venture, Oak & Poppy in Hampstead, which opened last month.

London-based teenagers in the eighties basically grew up in Soho and it may have changed almost beyond recognition, but I still love the cacophony of little streets and the vibe that prevails. Soho, to me, is the beating heart of the West End and home to some of the best and most innovative restaurants in our city. Here is where Marc

Melissa

We finished with a superb pecan pie – phenomenally good buttery pastry, crunchy caramelised pecans and salted caramel ice cream. There’s an easyreading wine list plus some interesting options I’d not seen before. The service is great, the atmosphere is terrific and, at long last, there’s somewhere decent to eat in Hampstead. LW www.oakandpoppy.co.uk beautiful

Bubala

PoppyOak& Poppy

Whiskey is distilled beer and is made in a variety of styles throughout the world. Boondocks American Whiskey is a creamy-smooth, sweet, 11-year-old tawny-coloured whiskey. The bouquet is redolent of honey, fennel and rye spice, while the taste is dominated by corn sweetness, with a touch of rye spice and a toffee note on the ﬁnish (£49.99).BenEideann Fionain

supermarkets and health food stores as well as kosher shops.

Bicerin Pina Colada Liqueur is a product of the Vincenzi Distillery in Turin, the city in which the famous Bicerin espresso beverage was developed. Add it not just to a piña colada, but to any tropical cocktail (£16.99).

Israelis are no stranger to tasty food, the latest technology and being ahead of the trend. Therefore, it is no surprise that they created a vegetarian food brand that is kosher, tastes good and is accessible, versatile and easy to use. What’s more, it ﬁts in perfectly with the trend to eat more healthily. And the kids love it, so everyone is a winner.

If you thought tastesthatyou’lltastedalreadyproductsTivallgood,besurprisedthenewrangeevenbetter.UKdinersareno longer yearning for meat, potatoes and two veg for our suppers, but rather are looking to have a higher percentage of our diet meat-free. It’s more healthy, it’s better for the environment and it saves money. In fact, by 2025, it is projected that vegans and vegetarians will account for a quarter of the population; already, more than a third of British households make a point of regularly having meat-free days. My own husband is a ﬂexitarian, being of the

COGNACS

red wine casks from vineyards in the Jerusalem mountains. This has crafted a remarkable dram with the muscovado sugar and vanilla notes of the bourbon casks intertwined with the robust forest fruits of the Jerusalem red (£54.99).

Angie Jacobs dishes up the original kosher vegetarian brand Tivall

Eau de vies – un-aged fruit brandies – are made by fermenting crushed fresh fruit and double distilling the resulting fruit wine in a copper pot still. There are only a handful of kosher eau de vies on the market, and one of the very best is Bokobsa Boukha. Made from figs, this clear eau de vie has a rich, oily, mouthfeel, with a light flavour and aroma of dried figs with a hint of butterscotch (£32.99).

Cognac, the famous brandy of southwestern France, is made primarily from Ugni Blanc grapes, which are crushed and fermented, distilled twice in copper pot stills, and aged for two years in French oak barrels.

Louis Royer’s more affordable VSOP Cognac is a smooth, medium-bodied blend of younger brandies, with ﬂavours of caramel, mocha, ﬁgs, cinnamon, cardamom and allspice (£59.99).

WHISKIES

parev, us to

All prices are RRP. kedemeurope.com

ON TREND before there was a trend

view that there will be better results if everyone does something.

Benjamin Gestetner suggests some kosher spirits to bring in the new year supermarkets food as If tasted good, you’ll be surprised that the new range tastes even better.

Liqueurs are made by infusing a

EAU DE VIES

Schmerling’s Chocolate Liqueur is a premium product from Switzerland. Imagine the velvety richness of Schmerling’s chocolate in a smooth liqueur (£25.99)

Tivall is constantly moving with the times and is in good company with brands such as KFC and Pret A thatwhichManger,recognisevegetarianism

UK diners are no yearning two will

Jerusalem Wine Cask is one of the most recent kosher bottlings to come out of Scotland. After years of ageing in American bourbon casks, this whisky has spent its ﬁnal months in extra special Cabernet Sauvignon

L’chaim!

spirit base with fruits or herbs, and then sweetening with sugar.

is the new normal and veganism is the new vegetarian – and adapt their menus accordingly.

LIQUEURS

We love Tivall here in the UK, but it is also sold throughout Europe and Israel in

66 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

FOOD & DRINK

L’chaim – to life – is the traditional toast, particularly when drinking spirits. Spirits were historically viewed to be life-imbuing and, indeed, many names for common types of liquor – whiskey, eau de vie, aquavit – mean ‘water of life’. As you celebrate the beginning of a New Year of life, toast l’chaim with one of the growing number of kosher spirits now available from Kedem.

Because the Tivall range is vegetarian or vegan, this also means it is parev, enabling us to make tasty dishes that come very close to their nonkosher counterparts. I’m talking about using Tivall veggie beeﬂess ground mince to make a spaghetti bolognese with grated cheese on top, a korma curry using Tivall beef-style pieces or a good old delicious burger with a melted cheese slice. These meals are perfect for all family members, not just the veggie or vegan ones. Yes really, you don’t have to make different food for everyone!

Arak is made from a combination of grape distillate and aniseed. A traditional arak sourced from Israel and boasting a 40 percent strength, distilled with the same ﬁne ingredients used for centuries by Joseph Gold and Sons distillers since 1824, the Elite Arak is a ﬁne and delicate traditional example (£29.99)

Louis Royer’s Kosher VSOP Cognac (£59.99) has long been one of the best kosher cognacs on the market. Rich and heavy, this supple and sweet 12-year-old, dark walnut-coloured brandy has ﬂavours and aromas of caramel, ﬁgs, baked apples, roasted hazelnuts, allspice and star anise.

Tivall was one of the ﬁrst companies to recognise the growing market for meatfree products and was established in 1985 by Gazi Cohen and members of Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta’ot. In its relatively short lifetime, it has become one of the world’s leading suppliers and innovators in the vegetarian sector. The kibbutz, home to survivors of the Holocaust and Warsaw Ghetto uprising, is still Tivall’s manufacturing base and continues to improve current products and research and develop new ones.

and is good brands thatwhichManger,recognisevegetarianism is the new normal and veganism is the new their menus accordingly. means

RONI’S WISHING ALL OUR CUSTOMERS RONI’S WISHING ALL OUR CUSTOMERS RONI’S HAMPSTEAD RONI’S MUSWELL HILL RONI’S BAGEL BAKERY RONI’S CAFE 44 Rosslyn Hill, NW3 1NH 348 Muswell Hill Broadway, N10 1DJ 250 West End Lane, NW6 1LG 248 West End Lane, NW6 1LG PLEASE VISIT US AT WE SPECIALISE IN CATERING PLATTERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS WE ALSO SPECIALISE IN BIRTHDAY CAKES BESPOKEBARWEDDINGSMITZVAHSEXPERIENCES WORLDWIDEUSAISRAEL&EU magic@vanessaevents.com www.vanessaevents.com+972.54.660.4245 @vanessacoevents AS SEEN IN:

It’s not just about the food, it’s about celebrating life! Bring your family and friends for an authentic Indian experience and choose from our extensive menu with delicious vegetarian & vegan dishes all made from the freshest ingredients. We look forward to welcoming you. MODERN INDIAN DINING & BAR from HertsBorehamwoodWatfordBHAGEECHARoadElstreeWD63BE Browse our www.bhageecha.co.ukmenu TUES–FRI 6pm–11pm12pm-3pm SAT 12 noon–11pm SUN 12 noon–10pm TO MAKE A RESERVATION OR TO ORDER Call 020 8159 Collection/delivery8159 @ bhageecha @ bhageecha_dining The Bhageecha Team ai164339159711_Bhageecha_JN-Feb2022.pdf 1 28/01/2022 17:39 [N] 02089 515 252 www.melissarestaurant.co.uk Whitchurch Ln, Edgware HA8 6RW MELISSA RESTAURANT

METHOD

SERVES

PREP TIME: 30 MINS 2

together the tahini paste, lemon juice and 100ml water and seasoning with a little salt and pepper.

TIME:

13. Serve the fish whole.

2. Place carrots in a roasting dish and coat with the olive oil and honey, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

PREP TIME: 15 MINS | COOKING 1 HOUR | 4

6. Roughly chop the pitted dates and shelled pistachio kernels (if using).

2. Keep the head on the fish (for the siman) and remove the central bone.

8. Layer alternating slices of orange and lemon inside the fish in an overlapping pattern.

12. Very carefully unwrap the top of the sealed parcel with the opening facing away from you, as scalding-hot steam will escape. Reveal the top of the fish, and place back into the oven for a further 10-15 minutes to crisp up the skin.

4. Add in 5 sprigs of thyme and 2 tbsp of chopped tarragon leaves and a generous amount of salt and pepper.

CITRUS ROASTED STUFFED SEABASS

1 tbsp olive oil – plus a little extra 5 sprigs of thyme

1 orange – half sliced in semicircles, half reserved for juicing

set aside the mixture and allow to cool.

10. Gently bring together the greaseproof paper and foil sheets around the fish and wrap into a loose parcel with sealed edges.

6. Cut a length of foil and a sheet of greaseproof paper each long enough to wrap the entire fish. Place the foil on a baking tray, then layer the greaseproof paper on top of the foil.

INGREDIENTS

6+ carrots 4 dates roughly chopped 1 tbsp Honey 1-2 tbsp pistachios* (optional) or 2 tsp of za’atar

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds 1½ tsp olive oil 8 tbsp tahini paste

Juice of half a lemon

If you keep the custom of not eating nuts at Rosh Hashanah, you can substitute za’atar seasoning.

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F)

7. Plate your carrots, and drizzle with tehina dressing, pomegranate seeds, chopped dates and either chopped pistachios or za’atar.

3. Roast for 1 hour, mixing halfway through. They should be roasted but still retain some bite.

2 tsp fresh tarragon – roughly chopped Salt and pepper – to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F)

Simanin. Not a herb or a spice, but something symbolic for your Rosh Hashanah cooking. Many of these 10 foods – carrots, leeks, fish, beets, gourds, pomegranate, dates, heads and black-eyed beans – feature in these recipes

The Yiddish for carrot, ‘mehr’, also means ‘more’, and we hope for many merits and blessings, as we do when we eat the pomegranate seeds. You can use any carrots but if you can find rainbow heritage carrots, these will look fantastic.

This zingy course has refreshing aniseed and citrus flavours, and features three simanim: fish, head and leek. We ask for God’s blessings that we be fruitful and multiply like fish; that we be like the head and not the tail; and that our enemies be cut down. (Leek in Aramaic is ‘karti’, and we make a play on the Hebrew word ‘karat’, meaning ‘cut down’.)

1 leek – thinly sliced

5. Meanwhile, prepare your tehina dressing by vigorously mixing

| COOKING TIME:

HOURS AND 10 MINS | SERVES 4

1 whole seabass or seabream –deboned, with the head attached 1 fennel – thinly sliced

METHOD

1 lemon – half sliced in semicircles, half reserved for juicing

9. Top citrus slices with the leek, fennel and tarragon stu ing mixture.

Salt and black pepper – to taste

INGREDIENTS

5. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and half an orange. Continue cooking for a further 10 mins, remove the thyme sprigs,

HONEY-ROASTED JEWELLED CARROTS WITH TEHINA

11. Place the tray into the preheated oven and cook for 40 minutes.

3. In a frying pan, pour 1 tbsp of oil and warm over a medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel and leek. Fry until so , moving regularly to ensure it doesn’t burn.

7. Using a little olive oil or spray oil, lightly coat both sides of the fish. Place fish on top of the greaseproof paper, in the centre of the tray.

SERVINGFOOD UP

4. Remove carrots from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

The Hebrew for carrot, ‘gezer’, is close to the Hebrew for decree, ‘gezerah’. By eating carrots we ask that Hashem decrees only good for us in the year ahead.

4. Drain the rice.

7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the liquid ones whilst whisking.

For the sauce: 1 onion – diced and lightly salted 3 cloves garlic 2 tsp dried mint Salt and pepper

6 Granny Smith apples 225g honey 225g date syrup

4. In another bowl pour the honey, date syrup, sugar and oil.

6. Cover the pan and refrigerate.

9. Peel and core the apples, and slice them into thin wedges.

14. When a skewer comes out dry and the cake is firm to the touch, allow to cool on a wire rack.

1 onion – ribboned

Many people start the Rosh Hashanah meal with the traditional apple dipped in honey as a blessing for a sweet new year. We have saved our ode to apple and honey for the end of the meal with this deliciously moist and warmly spiced cake.

Wrap and store in a cool, dry place for up to 5 days.

5 eggs 1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground ½cinnamontspground ginger ½ tsp mixed spice 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarb of soda 2 tbsp margarine

PREP TIME: 1 HOUR | COOKING TIME: 2 HOURS | SERVES 4 PREP TIME: 30 MINS | COOKING TIME: 1 - 1½ HOURS | MAKES 2 CAKES 10 great recipes for your yom tov table nspired by traditional symbolic foods (simanim) A member of the Jewish Futures family, Ta’amim is all about engaging Jews with their culture and heritage through food. For the High Holy Days it has created 10 dishes inspired by the traditional symbolic foods (simanim). The latest recipe booklet is available for free in print at Kosher stores in London and Manchester, and downloadable at wearetaamim.com. All images: Sophy Weiss Photography Follow @wearetaamim or visit wearetaamim. com for more recipe inspiration.

2. Halve and core the courgettes, ideally keeping the ends intact. This is easiest with a specialist corer, but can be done with a grapefruit spoon, or an apple corer and a teaspoon. You want to create a hollow with a wall of around 5mm.

METHOD

11. Cover the pan and cook on the stove for 1 hour.

the water to the honey mixture.

10-12 large courgettes

13. A er 45 mins, check the cake. If browning, you may loosely cover to prevent burning.

8. Set aside the batter and mix 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl.

METHOD

INGREDIENTS

and sugar, then layer in the tins.

9. Add garlic and dried herbs, stir together for 2-3 minutes, then add 800g chopped tomatoes and 400ml water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

FOOD

The Aramaic for gourds (pumpkins and courgettes) is ‘karaa,’ which in Hebrew means either to rip apart or to announce. We ask for evil decrees against us be ripped up and for our good deeds to be announced to God.

3. Si together the flour, baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger and ½ tsp mixed spice.

7. Into a saucepan add 1 tbsp oil and warm over medium heat.

10. Remove the casserole dish from the fridge and top the courgettes with the sauce.

2. Grease the two cake tins.

12. Pour half the batter into each tin, and bake for 1-1½ hours.

SYRIAN-STYLE STUFFED COURGETTES

3. Layer ribbons of onion on the base of a deep, heavy-bottomed and lidded casserole dish big enough to hold all the courgettes.

8. Add diced, salted onion to the pan

SPICED APPLE AND HONEY CAKE

and fry until translucent (3-5 mins).

6. Whisk all the wet ingredient together. Add 5 eggs and beat in.

10. Toss the apples in the cinnamon

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp dried parsley 1 tbsp oil 800g chopped tomatoes 400ml water

This dish can be frozen and reheated.

For the Hashu stu ing: 1 brown onion – finely diced and salted

5. In a bowl, mix together the stu ing ingredients, then loosely fill each courgette and put in the casserole dish, on top of the onions. We placed ours upright, tightly packed together and open end up, creating a visually stunning way to serve them straight from the pot. A more traditional approach is to layer the courgettes flat and weigh them down with a heat-proof plate during cooking.

12. Remove from the stove, then place in a preheated oven at 200°C / 180°C fan (Gas Mark 6 / 400°F) for 30-40 minute, then serve.

250g golden caster sugar + 1 tbsp caster sugar 150ml sunflower oil 600g self-raising flour

½ cup long grain rice 450g minced beef or lamb 1 tsp ground cumin ½ tsp of each: ground coriander, turmeric, allspice ¼ tspof each: onion powder, garlic powder, ground cinnamon ¼ tsp black pepper

1. Soak the rice for the stu ing in cold water for at least 30 minutes.

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan (Gas Mark 5/375°F)

5. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 300ml hot water. Stir, then add

The award-winning, Ukrainian-born cookery writer Olia Hercules has, alongside others, been raising money under the hashtag #CookForUkraine for those most a ected by Russia’s invasion and the ongoing conflict. Her latest cookbook, Home Food, which draws

Persiana Everyday is Sabrina Ghayour’s sixth cookbook, and its premise is to ensure “maximum flavour with the greatest of ease”. Iranian-born Ghayour certainly has a well-deserved reputation for sharing wonderful recipes that work, and this book, which includes no-cook, quick-prep, quick-cook and one-pot dishes, will be yet another one of hers to savour. Aster, £26

The writer, broadcaster and food anthropologist Ghillie Basan was described by English celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson-Wright as one of the “finest writers on Middle Eastern food”. Her latest cookbook, The Levantine Table, is a collection of recipes inspired by the vibrant and diverse culture of the Levant, the region of the Middle East stretching along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean. Recipes include small plates, including popular dips, salads and small bites as well as less familiar recipes. Ryland Peters & Small, £25

As executive head chef of the restaurant group for more than 10 years, Gelf Alderson, author of River Cottage Great Salads, is used to serving up original, veg-centric meals. Divided into chapters such as quick, hearty, spicy and lunchbox, these recipes give suggestions for seasonal swaps and delicious alternatives to show how, with a bit of creativity and flair, simple ingredients can be combined to make truly great salads. Bloomsbury Publishing, £20

on her childhood in Eastern Europe, her years in Cyprus and Italy and her simple, plant-centric family meals at home in London, is aimed at uniting us, no matter where we come from and where we end up. Bloomsbury Publishing, £26

Meliz Berg grew up in London watching her mum and aunt cook delicious, traditional Turkish-Cypriot food and spent holidays visiting family in Cyprus, helping her to form a rooted connection to her heritage and a love of cooking from a young age. Her debut cookbook, Meliz’s Kitchen, is a celebration of the melting pot of spices and fresh flavours that make a Turkish-Cypriot kitchen – adapted for busy family lives – and comes on the back of the Meliz Cooks blog she launched in 2013. Ebury Press, £25

As the co-writer, with Yotam Ottolenghi, of bestselling cookbook Flavour, Ixta Belfrage, who worked at NOPI and the Test Kitchen, was always going to be one to watch. So it’s no surprise that Mezcla (meaning mix, blend or fusion in Spanish), her first solo cookbook that contains 100 bold, impactful recipes inspired by her roots in Italy, Brazil, Mexico and beyond, has been feted by culinary luminaries including Nigella Lawson, Diana Henry and the big YO himself. Ebury Press, £26

blog Foodbod Sourdough, who likes to keep her method simple. In The Sourdough Whisperer, Boddy shares her best tips, tricks and troubleshooting tools for show-stopping sourdough success to prove that everyone can bake beautiful, delicious sourdough with confidence. Page Street Publishing, £17.99

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Plating up

ALEX GALBINSKI DISHES UP HER PICK OF THE LATEST COOKBOOKS

COOKERY BOOKS

If you attempted sourdough in the UK in lockdown, you might well have heard about Elaine Boddy, founder of popular

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WWW.GAVZEYOPTICIANS.COM02087319999 MOSCOT IS NOW AVAILABLE AT GAVZEY OPTICIANS! Come visit us at 48, The Market Place, London NW11 6JP. With the wide range of iconic styles our specialists are sure to help you find your perfect pair!

BACK TO SCHOOL

So that’s pleated plaid kilts, Peter Pan collars, half-undone and blazers.

BURST OF BARBIE

78 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

NFASHIONomatterhow

FASTFASHION

neck ties

BEING STUCK IN ECONOMIC DOLDRUMS DOESN’T MEAN WE HAVE TO PASS ON PURCHASING NEW CLOTHES, SAYS BRIE BAILEY

We’ve never needed a knit more, so think about sweater dressing. From coats to cardigans, two pieces and twin sets, anything goes if it fashionably keeps out the cold, which Cara and the Sky is so good caraandtheskycomat.

high our heels, the cost of living is biting at them. At a time when a coat of armour, rather than a coat, feels like suitable attire to get through a winter of buckling down the heat hatches, knowing what’s on trend feels trite. But clothes will always be a guilty pleasure and keeping the fashion business in business is part of our civic duty. Chances are you might already own some of autumn/winter 2022’s runway favourites as fashion rotates and style no longer has a sell-by date. In the 2020s, anything goes, which is why you always need another pair of Suzy D joggers. The frippery of fashion makes life fun and we all need some of that right now. So here are some seasonal suggestions worth getting out of bed for.

KNITWEAR

Bottega Veneta sets the street style for the season with fringe, but at £2,660 from Neta-Porter, you might want to look on the high street. Look dramatic in thigh high boots or bedecked brogues. Bottega Veneta fringe skirt, £29.99fringe,Skirt£2,660Net-a-Porter,fromwithZara, Fringe jacket (skirt ASOS,match),to£66 Knit Zara,cardigan,£32.99 Pink £240jacket,tuxedoJigsaw,Desert Dreams cosy cardigan, Joe Browns, £80 The £150blue,CardiganWeekendpeacockHopeFashion, Chloe skirt, £58, Sienna cardigan £62, sky.comcaraandtheMiniskirtwithfalseflappocket,Zara,£32.99 Jacket, Zara, £49.99

With Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling about to be Barbie and Ken on screen, the inevitable craze for the colour that fills Barbie’s world will follow. So keep any pink item you were planning to pass on.

FULL FRINGE

dresses are all the rage for autumn/ winter, so you will need to get behind the look at a simcha. Making any sort of stylish statement, be it as the hostess or a spectacular guest, is achievable at Debra of Chigwell proprietor whose fashion industry career began in 1976, Debra knows more than most when it comes to providing customers with the dress of their dreams. And, as Debra started out as a showroom model, she knows how to work the look. She also knows that shopping with children in tow can be painful (especially when female o spring need outfits too), so when she opened her store in Chigwell in the early 1980s, she made sure it catered for all ages and sizes. With her eye for buying and designing garments, she also stayed ahead of the game and very quickly gained a reputation that brought TV stars through her doors. Not content with just o ering eveningwear, cocktail dresses and prom gowns, Debra also stocks daywear, and every item of stock is carefully selected, designed or manufactured by her. Customers are looked a er by a team of stylists who are as honest as your closest friend, so you depart with a purchase knowing that it really suits you. The shop is also online, but better still Debra is also the ‘in-house’ milliner, so you won’t leave without Behind You

CORSETS We’ve whyforwearingbeenthemcenturies,stopnow?

Wolf Cubs

your hat. www.debrachigwell.co.uk ALWAYS

BLUE IS THE COLOUR – or cerulean, to which designers have taken a shine and used in slinky trousers for dressing down or up for occasions.

frames with genuine Swarovski crystals, or stand beautifuldesigned Junior, Wolf Cubs, Eyestuff their carrywinter,the of Foundation. They can also be ordered with a discrete . A eveningwear, cocktail dresses and prom gowns, Gavzey www.debrachigwell.co.uk frameSwarovski Blue satin wide £89Minttrousers,legVelvet, Teddy coat, John Lewis, £68 Corset top, Zara, £29.99 Island,top,CorsetRiver£49 £90London,DuneGravitate,Brown leather boots, London,Dune£195Zara,skirtbomberRhinestone(matchingavailable),£119

frameLemtosh

Much like black, white or cream always looks expensive in winter. wearing them for centuries,

Vicious garb either way, it was all over the catwalks for AW22, but you can confine it to footwear. Look threatening in thigh high boots or bedecked brogues.

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frame Wolf Cubs for men frameMoleskine

PUNK AND GOTH

Silhouette

ALL WHITE

LOOK & LEARN

What better time for new glasses than the New Year? Make Opticians, in Hampstead Garden Suburb, the focus of your attention. Gavzey has more than 1,000 frames and sunglasses from £20 to £600 and is the only place you can get designer brand Moscot in north-west London. Timeless and iconic, the designs come in a wide range of colours and shapes, and Moscot’s bestselling Lemtosh frame is worn by Helena Bonham Carter, Lady Gaga and Cristiano Ronaldo. Prefer something more lightweight? Try a barely-there rimless style from Silhouette or Lindberg. Customised for colour, ﬁt and lens shape, they’re a truly unique pair of glasses that are incredibly comfortable. Tom Ford will never disappoint if you want classic and Gavzey has the designer’s signature 70s aesthetic, as worn by the man himself.

The lightweight Moleskine collection in classic styles and colours has frames that fold so ﬂat they come in a custom cut, streamlined case that is not too bulky in your pocket or handbag. Six models are available with a magnetic sunclip.

Love a little sparkle? Try classically-styled Swarovski frames with genuine Swarovski crystals, or stand out in a room with a funky and colourful British designed Wolf frame. Or try a Woow frame in beautiful acetates handcrafted in Italy. Within the new children’s range, there are on-trend brands Ray-Ban Junior, Wolf Cubs, Eyestuff and Rock Star. Ask about myopia management for your child to slow the progression of their short sightedness. Remember you can look chic while protecting your eyes. With or without your prescription, summer or winter, Maui Jim sunglasses with polarised lenses carry the seal of approval from the Skin Cancer Foundation. They can also be ordered with a discrete little segmentmagnifyingso you can still read your phone without having to swap glasses. Genius!

Backless

8 BrookChigwellParadeEssexIG76PE T: 020 8500 2913www.debrachigwell.co.uk@debrachigwell

It’s a real find.

Brigit Grant dips into a honeypot of potions, fixes, solutions and smiles for the new year

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 81 BEAUTY AND HEALTH

Dr Irena Eris Neometric Anti-Wrinkle Capsules (£70.00).This works lips and eyes, so it’s a double whammy. The high potency pure retinol concentrate comes in capsule form and applied 2-3 times per week makes the skin feel silky as it reduces the depth of fine lines by up to 1 mm. You’ll be delighted by the natural radiance it restores. debenhams.com

I’VE NEVER LIKED SUPERMARKETS, so I definitely didn’t want my own set of barcodes. Just the sound of the cashier’s scanner over my kneidel mix made me bite my lip. My old lips! Crows’ feet I can live with, and a dash of botox fixes my forehead line, but verticals on the upper lip – no thank you. Too young with no grandkids to be a gurning granny, lipstick seeping into visible perioral lines required immediate action. So I called aesthetician Deborah Forsyth, who has been holding back my years since we met.

ANTIOXIDANT ANTIDOTE

A trusted expert in facial rejuvenation, Deb has been smoothing the wrinkles of royalty, A-listers and myself for more than 25 years and bar codes – aka ‘smoker’s mouth’ (yuck) doesn’t faze her. “It’s genetic,” she sighs. “But from the age of 30 to 35, you lose 30 percent of your natural collagen and 10 percent of your natural elastin. By the time you hit 60, you’ll have 10 percent collagen le .” A font of beauty wisdom, she never holds back on cheerless facts, so believe her when she says collagen supplements don’t make collagen. “Buy copper peptides instead. They are the amino acids that strengthen collagen fibres.” She also tells me that barcodes are caused by slackness in the puckering up muscle, shrinking gums, chewing, fluoride in the water (number one cause of low thyroid action ) low fat diets (starve the body of essential oils) and the menopause, which is her speciality.

SHOWERSAUTUMN

On with the fix, which required a drizzle of dermal filler being injected into my upper lip to hold it in place. “With age it has lost volume and this will act as a thread to refresh and li it. Like an underwired bra,” she says. “By straightening the vermilion border between the pink of your lip and the skin, lipstick won’t feather.”

Pomegranates are the star fruit of Rosh Hashanah and contain enzymes that brighten and even skin tone. That’s why Bloome ects put them in its Black Tulip Facial Treatment (£90) along with 31 other extracts of which one is Orchid Stem Cells, to plump skin and smooth lines. It’s Dorian Gray in a tub.

I love luxury shower gel, but seldom buy it, until my stock of hotelcomplimentaryminisrunsdry.

uk.pmdbeauty.com,feelunique.com,Selfridges

BANISH BARCODES

Harrodsand

With my lips numbed, Deb injected filler into the edges, Cupid’s bow and corners with a fine needle, then massaged it into place. Be assured this is not for plumping, so you won’t turn into a trout, but within minutes the barcodes were swiped and have got fainter every week. A smooth upper up with a more youthful curl is the result and thanks to Deb my lipstick stays on too, as she recommended Fenty Long wear Fluid Lip Colour (£22) by Rihanna. Told you Deb knows everything. Contact: deborah@ dfclinics.com, 0800 0887873

BAZAAR BEAUTY

Body Verde Lip Perfect (£13.60) is anti-ageing lip therapy for vertical ‘pucker’ lines. Perfect for New Year it contains bees wax, plus berries to hydrate,stop dryness, smooth and bring up the natural lip colour beautynaturals.com.

Urtekram’s Rise and Shine Range (£5.00) is a ordable and their hair and body was his full of autumnal orange blossom and warm spices thefragranceshop.co.uk and body was his full of

wisdom, also muscle, (number one cause of low thyroid action ) low fat diets (starve the body of essential

upper lip to hold it in place. “With age it has lost volume and this will act as a lip minutes the barcodes were swiped and

PUKKA ALTERNATIVES

to my recommended

PERFECT(£90)

The PMD Kiss (£129) minimises pesky mouth lines, but also plumps lips in a sort of suck and grab way. A bit like kissing a fish, the e ects last around 3-5 hours, but used daily, your top lip li s and colour is boosted.

POMEGRANATEPERFECT

Can’t a ord a face li ? You can with The Organic Pharmacy Antioxidant Duo (£120) The powerful pairing of revitalising, ultra-light gel in one bottle and nourishing oil serum in the other is a vitamin, antioxidant combo set to repair damage, salvage collagen and ignite a glow. Once you see a change keep going.

Like Le Labo, you want to immerse yourself in Ormond Jayne fragrance and Indus infused with blackcurrant and plum will keep spring around through Autumn. www.ormondejayne.com

At one time I saw very few men in my practice, but over the past few years it’s been 60% women 40% men.

Better known brands dominate the shelves, so the supreme Epiic hair range( from £26) deserves a shout out. In the age of #BeKind, its organic, vegan ingredients in recycled bottles that are melted down for other salon tool uses is a champion. There’s even a QR code on the bottles to show which ocean it was collected from! Pricey, but a little goes a long way, the products, full of herbs, flowers and aloe vera are light, but give volume and hold with no crunch or sti ness. Seek them out. www.epiichair.co.uk

www.glowa.comHAIRITIS

JUST WRAP IT

Family and friends could give suggestions based on their own experiences which can be unhelpful. Or possibly - subconsciously - they are the problem. Better to talk to someone who is not involved and listens without personal interest.

AT THERAPY 4 STRESS, qualified psychotherapist Renie Price o ers help with anxiety, stress, fears and phobias. Her answers to these questions will guide you to her

Why is talking to a professional more helpful than a friend/family member?

How does talking help relieve stress?

When you can’t cope with the issue in question any longer.

How do you know when it’s time to seek help?

When I started as a therapist, 12 years ago, I would never have worked online. Covid changed all that! The platforms available allow me to work as e iciently online as I do face to face, so I can help people anywhere in the country, not just those who are able to get to my o ice in Watford.

A er listening to clients and understanding the issues, I plan a course of therapy I think is suitable. If other issues come to light during subsequent sessions, I change the therapy accordingly.

POP THE SHAMPERS

THE NEW FRAGRANCEYEAR

IT’S GOOD TO TALK

82 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk BEAUTY AND HEALTH

Is it better to meet a therapist in person or is online su icient?

enticing base of jasmine and subtle layers

therapy4stress.com

With the spotlight on the fruit and it’s honey sidekick, why not switch the way you smell for the chagim and add some apple. Miss So? by Escentuals has a Love Potion that is an apple blend with an enticing base of jasmine and subtle layers of sandalwood and musk. And then there’s Candy which has notes of raspberry and peach , but just the right amount of candied apple. The capsule collection of six is in Boots, but also at sofragrance.com

O en when mulling things over in your mind you just think of the negative. Talking out loud gives the brain time to think about alternatives, and the ability to consider what can be, instead of what is or was.

APPLES ANYONE?

Supplements are a minefield and so many are targeted at menopausal women. Why? Because it’s life-changing and di erent for each woman, but hair loss is common and for the ‘typical’ Jewish women, turns weekly salon appointments into a fixture of dread. Glowa Hair Food (£34.99 for 60 capsules)is a ‘mane’meal that will: balance hormones (Vitamin B6), protect hair follicles and prevent loss/shedding (L-Lysine & B12) replace organic sulphur to enhance growth(MSM) and maintain a healthy scalp(Zinc & Vitamin C). Your hair will never be hungry again.

What is the ratio of men/women you see?

How do you decide what type of therapy is right?

Men o en think they are weak if they admit they aren’t coping. But now that mental health is talked about more in the workplace, men are more at ease about getting help. Not as much as in America, but it’s getting better.

Did you know that hair gets visibly longer and thicker if you wrap it in silk overnight? Bed head caused by cotton pillowcase friction and the absorption of oils leads to weak hair, breakage and poor regrowth. The Silk Overnight Hair Wrap: (£35.99)stops and you’ll notice your hair is shinier and smoother in the morning. Your blow-dry lasts longer too. They also do a night oil that’ my new must www.thisissilk.com

KEEP HOLD OF SPRING

The latest fragrance from Miller Harris is Myrica Muse Eau de Parfum( £125). Having grown totally attached and remembered for their Lost in the City (my daughter too) moving to a fruity floral musk fragrance? Show us the way. millerharris.com

Why do men find it harder to talk about their feelings?

So if you live in Edgware (or even if you don’t) Campos Dental should be on your radar. Owner Jacqueline Jacobs has over 30 years in private dentistry and has invested heavily in the latest dental technology at the ultramodern surgery. Informing patients about the cutting-edge treatments available is part of the service at this practice, which offers general family dentistry, emergency dentistry, dental care for nervous patients as well as implants, Invisalign, digital dentistry, hygiene services and facial aesthetics. And all at competitive prices. Exceptional customer service delivered by a smiling dentist is welcome wherever you live and at any time as Campos Dental offers evening and weekend appointments. camposdental.co.uk

TOOTH FAIRY

beauty know-how to your door, along with a host of products to rejuvenate and flatter, industry experts Vikki & Mala promise to leave you feeling your ‘beautiful best’.

flatter, ‘beautiful

To enter Closingjewishnews.co.uk/verymakeupmad.visitdate:15October2022.

More about VeryMakeupMad on p85 withis the master of your new

The prize includes a ‘skinterview’, detailingaemailcomprehensiveasenttoyouerthesessioneverythingdiscussed,plustheirsought-aerpersonalisedvideotutorials.

Want to stop panda eyes? Never found that perfect foundation match? Want to learn the Holy Grail of doing a smoky eye?

enough

Let me show you how Rebecca from Bushy sent this after I worked with her:-

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“Before the session I was anxious and found it difficult to relax, anything new made me nervous. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to unwind and take it on board, but Renie helped me to understand how hypnotherapy and BWRT, can help. She made me feel at ease. It was great! With Renie’s guidance, I was able to feel relaxed and calm and understand the anxiety I had been feeling. It has helped to bring clarity to something that has bothered me for a long time, and allowed me feel more calm and positive.”

The prize includes a ‘skinterview’, detailingaemailcomprehensiveasenttoyouerthesessioneverythingdiscussed,plustheirsought-aerpersonalisedvideotutorials.

ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH ANXIETY OR STRESS?

able to go forward to a better future? Then I can help you to: ▶ Believe in yourself and your abilities ▶ Feel good enough ▶ Be calm and relaxed ▶ Enjoy social activity ▶ Able to stand up an talk in public ▶ Be relaxed and calm ▶ Feeling

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A consultation with VeryMakeupMad is your chance to up your beauty game and solve any makeup issues. It’s a bespoke session, so you dictate the focus – whether it’s how to contour, brighten or just to get yourself out of a beauty rut. Learn how to become the master of your new makeup routine – one that suits your face, your lifestyle and your budget.

I work face to face in my office in Watford, but I also work with people online. So where-ever you are I can give you the help and support you need.

alone ▶ Do you worry

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IT’S NOT EASY FINDING A NEW DENTIST LOCALLY

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So if you want to find out more about what I do and how I might be able to help. Please call or text me, on the number below, to book an appointment THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? to be free and knowing that you are good to be and do anything people do, so you’re not all the

My name is Renie – I’m not a magician, although some of my clients do tell me they think I am

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time? ▶ Lack in confidence or self-esteem? ▶ Maybe doubt yourself and your abilities ▶ Have a fear or a phobia ▶ Don’t know which way to turn ▶ Think no-one can help you Renie www.therapy4stress.comRenie@therapy4stress.comMob:TherapyPrice4Stress07956002424

admin@drsilbersteinclinic.co.uk02037013382/074212235773MarketPlaceNW116LBwww.breastfeedingdoctor.co.uk Dr Silberstein Clinic Our Services • Tongue Tie Assessment and Division • Breastfeeding Support Groups • Antenatal and Hypnobirthing Classes • Paediatric First Aid Courses for Parents • Pregnancy Massage and Pampers • Postnatal Groups • Baby Massage Courses and much more

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Vikki & Mala’s VeryMakeupMad journey was born out of their shared love of all things beauty, their years of industry experience, and their frequent trips to beauty halls. After answering so many of their friends’ beauty questions and forever recommending their own favourite products, they launched an expert beauty advice service that is bespoke, impartial and with no brand affiliations. VeryMakeupMad’s promise has always been to recommend honestly and across all price points.

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Choose your focus:

What a fabulous morning – the session left me glowing inside and out! Your approach is so refreshing; you are both complete experts in your field and so generous with your time and knowledge.” Tanya C

A beauty and makeup routine created just for you

It’s a beauty product minefield out there and it turns out that lots of us are applying the same makeup and

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Mala are on a mission to get you using the right makeup and skincare for your skin. Using their unbridled knowledge and infectious personalities, the two 40-somethings launched their consultancy business VeryMakeUpMad in north-west London in 2018 and have created an impressive social media presence, too. They create bespoke beauty routines and help, support and inspire women to look their beautiful best, no matter their age. From teen breakout prevention routines and fostering a future of good skincare habits, to enthusing all women to embrace their faces, Vikki & Mala are all about ingredientled

In a recent poll, 42 percent of women admitted to still using the same beauty routine they had used since their teens.

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Theirbeauty.ethos is simple – less is more. Vikki and Mala believe that makeup should enhance illuminateandand that beauty is andwithayourself.goodfacecelebratingaboutyourandfeelingaboutBookconsultationVikki&Mala,you’llsoonbe loving the skin you’re in. The beauty routine they curate for you will be simple, effective and ‘no-nonsense’ and, most importantly, will bring you joy and a sense of wellbeing.

• No more foundation faux pas

techniques we’ve been using since school. And as for skincare, it can be baffling, thanks to the plethora of products in today’s over-saturated market. It’s not easy to get great, impartial beauty advice and product recommendations; conversely it’s all too easy to feel bamboozled or intimidated in-store.

• Prevent and correct redness

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 85

Vikki & Mala spend time working out exactly what’s going to be right for you – that may be just a couple of key products to add to your existing routine, or a whole range. They’ll also leave you armed with more confidence and, ultimately, the master of your own makeup and skincare.

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To find out more about VeryMakeupMad, their beauty services and what they can do for you and your beauty routine, go orwww.verymakeupmad.comtoscantheQRcode

• Contouring for your face shape

• Heal, calm and soothe unhappy skin

Resource offers a FREE full range of tailored services to help you find your next role LOOKING FOR A JOB? NETWORKING CONTACTS to help you open more doors A PERSONAL ADVISOR to increase your confidence Charity No. 1106331 EXPERT CV WRITING to secure you an interview INTERVIEW PREPARATION to ensure you land the job CALL RESOURCE NOW on 020 8346 4000 or visit resource-centre.org Take the first steps to getting back to work Please help us to continue delivering pioneering care to our residents. Our bespoke person-centred approach to care is only possible with your generosity and support. NIGHTINGALE HOUSE 105 NIGHTINGALE LANE, LONDON SW12 8NB HAMMERSON HOUSE, WOHL CAMPUS 50A THE BISHOPS AVENUE, LONDON N2 0BE FROM EVERYONE AT NIGHTINGALE HAMMERSON Registered Charity No. 207316 NEWRESIDENTSWELCOME To make a donation please scan the QR code or visit nightingalehammerson.org.uk/donate

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cent. Patients may seek mesh removal, which is a difficult procedure to perform, and almost impossible after a laparo scopic repair. Data from the Shouldice Clinic has highlighted mesh degradation, nerve growth into the mesh and erosion of anatomical structures as contributing factors.There are, of course, complications of each technique to consider. Compared with no-mesh repair, the list of mesh complications is longer, with many being potentially serious (although rare).

Learning a non-mesh technique takes longer, requiring at least 200 cases and possibly up to 1,000. The surgery takes longer and often a unilateral laparoscop ic hernia repair ends up being bilateral owing to the findings of a second small, asymptomatic hernia.

In other words, you can choose your ‘facts’ to fit your opinion. With that in mind, let’s see if we can unravel some of the myths and legends of hernia repair.

But, because the current generation of surgeons may only have learnt mesh techniques, the expertise to perform nonmesh anatomical repairs is being lost in the same way that no one alive now can reproduce a Stradivarius violin. Having said that, it should be remembered that most hernia repairs, by whatever technique, are uneventful, and perhaps it comes down to the experience and care of the surgeon after all.

es. Edward Earle Shouldice (1890-1965) developed his technique (a modified Bassini repair) during the 1940s. Using specialist surgeons, and still relying on the anatomical Shouldice repair, they report a recurrence rate of less than one percent. This was the basic technique by which nearly all inguinal hernias were repaired until the mid-1990s.

It claimed to offer lower discomfort and a lower recurrence rate, neither of which have been substantiated. Finally, it was supposed to be easy to teach, cheap and could be performed under local anaesthetic.Withtherise of laparoscopic surgery, the plethora of possible techniques was complete. And here lies the controversy: a mesh or no-mesh hernia repair? How to decide?!Anylaparoscopic (mesh) repair is vulnerable to concerns regarding chronic pain. Depending on the study, the inci dence of persistent pain after a mesh repair varies from 3 percent to 78 per

Myths and Legends of Hernia Repair in the 21st Century

But I begin with some words of caution. While we rely on peer-reviewed articles for information, things may not always be what they seem. Let me introduce you to the Newton-Bendavid First Law of statis tics. Isaac Newton needs no explanation (I hope!). Robert Bendavid was most recently head of Canada’s Shouldice Hernia Clinic. It was my pleasure to know and to share platforms with him.

It is fair to say that there is still some discussion about the best way to repair an inguinal hernia. Different techniques flaunt their apparent superiority, with the popular perception that laparoscopic repair is dominant.

With so much invested in laparoscopic equipment by large medical technology companies, is this all just marketing? Despite this, it is interesting that the proportion of primary hernias repaired laparoscopically in the UK remains around 15 percent, similar to other Euro pean countries (Sweden 12 percent, the Netherlands 16 percent).

With the emergence of general an aesthesia, Edoardo Bassini (1844-1924), an Italian surgeon, described a tech nique that relied on restoring the normal anatomy of the inguinal canal. Between 1883 and 1889, he reported a series of 262 operations with seven recurrences (2.7Thepercent).establishment of the Shouldice Clinic brought hernia repair to the mass

In 1987, Irving Lichtenstein (19202000) published his series of 6,321 patients in whom he used a polypropyl ene mesh and claimed a recurrence rate of 0.7 percent. He labelled his technique ‘tensionless’ and, by the mid-1990s, it had become the most common technique in theMeshUK.

repair was said to be easier to perform as no detailed anatomical knowledge was required. Some surgeons, including myself, had learnt the tradition al Shouldice repair, before trying the Li chtenstein method; subsequently others have only learnt this technique.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 87

He died in 2019. The ‘Law’ states: “For every statistic quoted in the surgical liter ature, there will be an equal and opposite statistic reported in the same literature.”

Surgeons announced that “there is a mesh-free alternative for patients with groin hernias, which some surgeons have called for the NHS to teach its staff, so patients can have a choice”. And so, we have come full circle.

 For more information, or to book a consultation with Mr Marsh or 108 Harley Street’s Groin and Hernia Clinic, call 020 7563 1234, or visit 108harleystreet.co.uk

Mr Simon Marsh Consultant Surgeon and 108 Harley Street’s Surgical Director

To work out why we are where we are, it’s worth considering how we got here. It is not possible to pay tribute to all those involved in the evolution of hernia repair, but there are a few developments that deserve recognition.

In all the clamour regarding chronic pain, the Royal College of

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 89 PROMOTED CONTENT

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Being 54 years young, I’m in the height of my menopause, and was feeling like I had been run over by a steam train! With the HRT weight gain and mood swings I felt that I had no control over my body. I started to wear my LadyCare magnet at the beginning of this year. Within a few weeks, I noticed a decrease in my hot ﬂushes, smoother sleep patterns and many of my symptoms started to disappear. In my third month, by balancing my Autonomic Nervous System (ANS),

to 12 weeks to become fully effective. If you are unfortunate and it doesn’t work, Sassy La Femme will reimburse you.*

www.jgift.org | 0208 457 4429 | info@jgift.org | Registered charity 1153393 across all our initiatives, including packing, driving, cooking, tutoring and helping hand COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATION 5782 delivered to 400+ households prepared and distributed by The Giving Kitchen 56,000 SUPPORT PARCELS 12,600 NUTRITIOUS MEALS 600 WEEKLY VOLUNTEERS OUR MISSION IS TO INSPIRE AND ENABLE LIFELONG GIVING SHANA TOVA FROM GIFT inspired through hands-on sessions 5,600 STUDENTS 2-3 OCTOBER | X2 | CHARITYEXTRA.COM/GIFT across 20 primary schools, in London and Manchester participated in a 6-week educational programme 750 YEAR 6 PUPILS @giftcharity @giftcharityuk @GIFTcharity jgift.org/giftcharity GIFT RH AD -Quarter Page JN.indd 1 30/08/2022 15:52 הבוט הנש EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT BUSINESS SUPPORT SHARED WORKSPACE 020 8371 3280 WWW.THEWORKAVENUE.ORG.UK CONTACT US TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN HELP REGISTERED CHARITY 1164762 cst.org.uk National Emergency Number 0800 032 3263 (24-hr) | London 020 8457 9999 | Manchester 0161 792 6666 Community Security Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales (1042391) and Scotland (SC043612). For a sweet & secure New Year Shana Tova CST would like to wish the whole community a Shana Tova and well over the Fast. We also thank our many brave and devoted volunteers for all the hours they commit to their security work.

80 trees for 80 years

ANASTASIA MOVED TO ISRAEL from Russia with her two children over 10 years ago. Forced to flee an abusive relationship with her two young girls, she found refuge in a WIZO shelter in Hadera. When it was time for her to leave the shelter, the WIZO Safety Net programme provided complete support, counselling, financial services and every possible assistance to begin a new life. The WIZO charity shop ‘bigudit’ was a resource for clothing and secondhand items to furnish her new home. “I was struck by the incredible amount of caring and support I received,” said Anastasia. Wanting to give back, she began volunteering at the shop, and when the manager retired, she o ered the paid position to Anastasia. Today, Anastasia leads a team of over 20 volunteers, designs store displays, signs o on the final selection of clothing, plans vintage bazaars and other special events, and promotes the store in the community. From powerless to empowered, Anastasia’s story is a

And the good news is that the job market is more buoyant now than it has been in years and Work Avenue’s Jobs Board has more than 100 positions being advertised currently, with new ones being added every day.

A er attempting to take his own life, John realised he needed professional help to get better. He says: “Jami gave me hope. Hope for life, hope for the future and hope that I’ll be around for much longer.”John’s first interaction with Jami, the mental health service for the Jewish community, was at an event at its Head Room Café in Golders Green. Here he met people going through similar experiences to him and it convinced him that the charity’s other services could help him too. John’s weekly one-to-one sessions with two Jami support workers, who were there to listen and set goals to help him move forwards, gradually enabled him to go from rock bottom to feeling on top of the world. He says: “With Jami’s support, I began to make positive choices. Now I do a job I love and spend quality time with my wife and family. I’m happy. And that’s thanks to Jami.” jamiuk.org

money.“Iwas given my own dedicated adviser, who was just wonderful. She helped guide and direct me confidentially towards the jobs I would suit and put my anxieties at ease over the recruitment process.

Everything Work Avenue o ers is free – from one-to-one careers guidance with experienced and professional employment advisers to a range of workshops and events.

John says: ‘I’m happy, and Jami’thanksthat’sto

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TZEDAKAH

If the job fits

jamiuk.org

AJR

Kindertransport child Victor Garston with his extended family

“I also attended a couple of Work Avenue’s workshops, including one on transferable skills that made me appreciate how much of what I did in my current job – and how running a busy house – could be used elsewhere.”

employment advisers to a range of in partnership

BECOMING AN OCTOGENARIAN is something to celebrate and as it enters its ninth decade the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) has done just that by planting 80 oak trees in locations significant to Jewish refugees. Each tree acts as a platform for telling the story of Britain’s Jewish refugees. The majority of were planted along with a time capsule containing key facts about the Jewish refugee community and sharing the life story of one or more AJR members. 80 Trees for 80 Years project manager Jo Briggs says: “It’s been incredibly special to involve local communities with this initiative.” All tree locations are included in the new UK Holocaust Map, developed by the AJR in partnership with the UK government. This digital resource ukholocaustmap.org.uk helps communities to learn about their local connections to the worst crime ever committed.Thesocial care of the refugees who fled Nazi persecution and the survivors who came to the UK a er the Holocaust is the focus of the AJR. Today the majority of members are children and grandchildren who join to honour the memory of their parents and grandparents, to celebrate the heritage and culture of their ancestors and to connect with others from similar backgrounds. The AJR is the UK’s largest dedicated funder of programmes and projects to promote teaching and learning about the Holocaust. It has also produced several resources

ajr.org.ukSafetynet

of its own, such as the audio-visual testimony archive AJR Refugee Voices, which contains over 270-filmed testimonies.

JOHN’S WORLD WAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN a few years ago. Having once been the life and soul of the party, he became quiet, withdrawn and increasingly more isolated. “I stopped socialising and then I felt lonely and had a lot of negative thoughts,” he says. “I thought no one cared about me and everyone hated me. It was torturous living through each day.”

Charity Box

Anastasia, pictured with one of her daughters, was helped by WIZO

FOR MANY, THE RISING COST OF LIVING is giving them cause to look for a new job with a higher salary. That’s where Work Avenue can help. The community’s leading employment and business support organisation has helped thousands of people into work, to change jobs, to start a business and to reskill for new careers. Danielle is one of those people, as she had a part-job and needed to utilise her skills to make more

of support

As we consider how to better ourselves in the new year, supporting charities is one of the ways we can do that. By Poppy Shulman

powerful example of WIZO’s impact. The WIZO Safety Net programme is for women who have completed their stay in shelters for victims of domestic violence and face enormous challenges in rebuilding their lives. In 2021, 371 women and children took part in this programme in six locations around Israel. This is just one of the many programmes and initiatives highlighted in WIZOUK’s Women Leading the Way campaign, supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged young women and girls.

Awizouk.orgnewbeginning

upholstered in rich velvet and made up with beautiful sheets. Custom-made furniture has been carefully designed to suit the demographic; for example, older people use chair arms to leverage themselves up and down and they are sturdy enough and at the right height.

Ralph and Rachel Gemal are living at Jewish Care’s Stella & Harry Freedman House at The Betty and Asher Lo us Centre

scientists, technology, hospitality and design staff. The programme draws on neuroscience and psychological evidence showing that stimulating activities involving art, music, language learning and storytelling improve interactions, mood and mobility for people living with dementia, Parkinson’s and other conditions.

A rigorous health assessment results in a personalised care plan, with one carer to every two people. The 26 large bedrooms are oases of calm, with hospital beds

Loveday’s Abbey Road home – its third such home – has a sensory garden and an airy feel with plenty of seating

LOUISA WALTERS VISITS A PRIVATE CARE CLUB’S NEW HOME IN NORTH LONDON FOR OLDER RESIDENTS AND LOOKS AT OTHER OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH NEEDS

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Home Comforts a care home. “We are here to support, reassure, guide and answer questions for people and their relatives who are considering moving into a

Improving life for people with complex nursing needs is at the core of what Loveday does. As London’s only private members’ club catering for seniors at every stage of the ageing journey, it combines individualised care with the very best in world-class hospitality. Would we really expect anything less from founder Laurence Geller CBE, chairman of the Alzheimer’s Society’s National Dementia Appeal? Geller has spent his life working in the world of hospitality, notably at one time owning Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton hotel groups, but watching both of his parents suffer with the effects of dementia spurred him to change direction. Working alongside his son, Guy, who has experience of running care homes, he established Loveday in 2015.TheAbbey Road home is the third one to open after Kensington and Chelsea. Its location in St John’s Wood means that it is in the hub of Jewish north London. All dietary requirements can be catered for and activities will be geared around the various Jewish holidays. At Loveday homes, there are no set visiting times and pets are even allowed in to visit. As a former chef, Laurence’s philosophy is that if you eat better you live longer. Three-course meals worthy of a Michelin star, with wines to match, are served every night, plus there are themed evenings, lots of variety at lunch, and food and drink is available all day. An open kitchen gives the chef and the residents the opportunity to interact.

There is a lounge on each floor so residents don’t need to stay in their rooms or receive visitors in them. The dining area opens on to a beautiful and safe sensory garden with lots of seating, a water feature and potting shed. It’s not all about the comfort and the aesthetics, though. Loveday pioneers many research projects and employs advanced technology to prevent falls, reduce sleep disturbance and improve care. “Loveday provides care without compare,” says Laurence. “It’s about being the best we can be.” lovedayandco.com

One of Jewish Blind & Disabled’s specially adapted mobility apartments for independent living

Home is where the art is I clocked them as soon as I entered the beautiful new Loveday home on Abbey Road. Striking, brightly-coloured paintings on the walls, a mixture of abstracts and local scenes. The Loveday Arts curriculum, run by artist-in residence Grace Holliday, is one of a number of activities on a programme developed in conjunction with the University of West London, working alongside artists,

Jewish Care’s Liz Linder, who heads up the Living with Jewish Care team, knows that it can be daunting moving to

COMMUNITY CARE

Gardener and TV presenter Rachel de Thame potting herbs at Loveday in Abbey Road

Making a care home feel like home

The developments are specially designed to enable people to do the everyday tasks that are key to living independently, in safety with their own front door, with house managers on-site 24/7. Work is under way on an eighth building, in Mill Hill East, which will provide 30 much-needed mobility apartments.

know a resident and their families and, in Rachel & carers

Whenever possible, the aim is to accommodate couples together.

like to have a laugh and

One of the 26 spacious bedrooms at Loveday Abbey Road, a luxury home that combines individualised care with world-class hospitality

Jewish Care home,” she says. “We do everything we can to help to make what can be a difficult time as smooth a transition as possible.”

A care assessor meets each person and their relatives to assess their needs. The Family Carers Team is on hand for relatives who, as carers, often benefit from additional support at this time.

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Jewish Care’s director of care, housing & hospitality, says: “Understanding the lives our residents lived before they came into care is key to ensuring that people are cared for in a meaningful way. We ask for the help of the wider family members to engage with us and tell us as many details as possible so we can understand as

Disabled transforms the lives of Jewish adults who have a physical disability and/or vision impairment, through independent living and support in specially-adapted mobility apartments or within someone’s own home in the wider community.

Jewishproblems.Blind&

straight away during dinner. My wife is living on the first floor, which has specialist care for people living with dementia.” jewishcare.org

One of the seating areas at the Loveday home in Abbey Road

There are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK, yet only a staggering seven percent of homes in England are accessible. More than half of those requiring an adaptation do not have the facilities they need. As a result, many people with disabilities are living in unsuitable housing and, not surprisingly, 38 percent of people who have a long-term physical condition also experience severe mental health

“We arrange for a visit and take prospective residents to view care homes that would suit their needs or, if the person isn’t able to visit themselves, we’ll invite their family to visit,” says Liz. “They’ll get a feel for the people and the place and find out more about life in the care home. They’ll meet the home’s manager and staff and gain an understanding of the care they’ll receive, who will be caring for them and the variety of activities available for them, depending on their interests, to promote wellbeing, stimulating both body and mind.”

“ This open communication helps staff get to know a resident and their families and, in turn, can result in caring interactions and the forming of relationships.”

An Independent Living Advisory Service takes the expertise into people’s own homes for those who are not looking to make a move. The service both advises and funds the installation of vital aids and adaptations that can help transform someone’s home into a healthy home that supports their needs.

Ralph Gemal, 88, and his wife live at Jewish Care’s Stella & Harry Freedman House at The Betty and Asher Loftus Centre in Friern Barnet. He says: “The care home is outstanding. The carers look after me and treat me with respect and we like to have a laugh and a joke. It felt like home very quickly and, when I arrived, I made friends

Enabling independence

jbd.org

Jewish Care’s Stella & Harry Freedman House at The Betty and Asher Lo us Centre in Friern Barnet

much as we can about a person.

Residents are encouraged to bring in small pieces of furniture, framed photos, pictures for the walls, a TV, radio and anything else to make their new space personal to them. Visits from family, friends and even pets are encouraged.RachelJones,

We need your good quality donations Your donation will help many local worthy causes. Arrange your collection today. Reg Charity No: 1125462 t. 020 8381 1717 e. collections@allaboardshops.com w. www.allaboardshops.com ...and we collect for free! Wishing You A Happy & Healthy New Year Make a gift this Rosh Hashanah PLEASE DONATE Sowing seeds to help the Jewish community in Uganda thrive. worldjewishrelief.org/roshhashanah02087361250 reg. charity number 290767

6389 UJIA Kol Nidre JN v1.indd 1 13/09/2022 16:50 jLiving is the largest provider of sheltered housing to the Jewish community in the UK Good Yom Tov For more information, please visit our website or call our office 020 8381 4901 | jliving.org.uk | #peaceofmindindependent#jlivingEnablingliving.Life is for jLiving

ujia.org United Jewish Israel Appeal is a registered charity no. 1060078 (England & Wales) and SC 039181 (Scotland). JourneyTheHome

It’s where our heart is

To support the work of UJIA in Israel this Kol Nidre and be part of building a home where every child has the opportunities we would want for our own, visit ujia.org/kn22

Israel today is resilient and prosperous; however, many Israelis sadly do not share in its prosperity. Without our intervention, the gaps in Israel’s society, between those that have and those that do not, are only going to widen.

UJIA invests in support for young Israelis living in the social and geographical peripheries, where there are fewer high-quality educational and developmental opportunities, resulting in reduced life-chances. Additionally, through our initiatives, Israelis from minorities and disadvantaged communities are able to find quality employment opportunities, which in turn provides sustainability to their families, local communities and wider Israeli society.

www.youthaliyah.org.uk 020 8371 1580 | info@youthaliyah.org.uk Over 80 Ukrainian refugee children are now safe in our Youth Villages, with more on their way. They need our help. Please donate at www.youthaliyah.org.uk

Wishing all our friends and supporters in the UK a happy and healthy Shana Tova Israel Guide Dog Centre UK 020 8090 www.israelguidedog.org.uk3455Registeredcharityno:1188449

With TV’s favourite legal eagle Robert Rinder as his owner, French Bulldog Rocco is ready to unleash...

please!Chag Sameach Rocco

Photographers are rarely smothered in kisses by their subjects but, for Emma Slade, it’s a perk of the job. Her subjects are dogs and the a ectionate ones “prefer to cuddle or kiss me rather than pose”, explains Emma, who once had a sensible job in a bank.

Paws in Action Dog

“I love it. I love meeting new dogs who have their own personalities, as do their owners. It can be sad sometimes as I’ve photographed a few dogs nearing the end of life, but that old adage about working with animals is not true for me, whether they are well-trained or puppies who aren’t. I’m not a patient person at all, but when I’m photographing dogs, I seem to have all the patience in the world.”

HERE’SROCCO

Wag it

I have seen some dreadful hound behaviour on High Holy Days, such as the time a terrier made o with the shofar before it was blown. I get that it’s loud, but if it’s out of earshot, I’m respectful. With manners like mine, my atonement list is short, though the Judge thinks prolific use of the word b**** is a sin. He’s wrong, as what else does a stylish French Bulldog call a bossy Bichon Frisé? Suggestions on a New Year card

“Our routine includes two daily one-hour walks in the woods along with supervised play and constant guidance inside the house

info@waggingtons.co.uk153093

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There are also owners who get quite stressed and embarrassed if their dog isn’t doing what they want.”

Pet owners have been taking their dogs to Waggingtons’ charming Mill Hill residence for day care since they could... well, walk, or were at least 10 weeks old. The puppy socialisation groups teach them how to interact with peers and elders, be confident and walk correctly on a lead. Fully licensed and insured, owner Tracie has 25 years’ experience and, as a dog behavioural therapist, is hands-on every day. And each day at Waggingtons is meticulously planned.

and the large garden. Each dog that joins us instantly becomes part of our family.”

Canine Close-Ups

BentleyBuddy

Oy. It’s happening. No, not the Judge playing Cher’s Believefor the umpteenth time, but Rosh Hashanah. It could be worse. Passover is when the family laughingly tries to provoke me into searching for the afikomen. I do it to amuse and for the lamb shank a er the seder, but there are limits to what I can do with apples and honey.

When you’re the personal property of a legal eagle, remaining immaculate is essential – and honey puts me in a sticky predicament. I know it’s a favourite ingredient of the ‘zen’ bakers, who make those trendy organic dog biscuits but, in its natural form, it’s sticky on the paws.

JN pet owners know this is true, having watched their own dogs bolting to the door to greet Tracie and her team, meet up with pals and snu le through the toy box. Owners also get their dog back clean. The same constant supervision takes place when dogs board, some for longer stays, and are showered with a ection. If their owners don’t book them into Waggingtons, they’ll get on the dog and bone themselves. 8906 4905 07869

Luna

Emma’s solution is to get everyone to relax and, not surprisingly, dogs tend to obey quicker than their owners.

Her canine rapport is evident in the stunning photos, but e ort is required. “Some dogs go through many treats during the session while the owner tries to get them to sit, stand still or achieve the pose they planned.

She also took courses, worked with mentors, learned the cra and swapped tailored dresses and high heels for lying on the ground in muddy parks.

“For 16 years it was long hours and extreme stress,” says the pet snapper, who didn’t get a dog until January 2019, when Schlappohr, her cockapoo, was bought on a whim. “He changed my outlook and I realised there was more to life than earning a good wage,” says Emma, who quit her job with no next plan. “I had no idea what I would do, but as I obviously love dogs and enjoyed photography as a hobby, I combined them and became a dog photographer!”

07734pawsinaction.co.ukPhotography529710

Yom Kippur is also sticky because of the fasting. Though there is nothing in the Torah about dogs abstaining, it just feels wrong to eat in front of the Judge and I know my place (at the end of his bed when I can).

020

Banksy

Angela Laws with her Jewish ward, Stella

past nine

Stella belonged to Brian and Eileen Cohen in Los Angeles but, even with her passing, ties were not broken with the genial Laws. “The first time we sat for Brian and Eileen, they went to Israel for three weeks. Stella was very foodorientated and John was about to share his sandwich when I said ‘No! You can’t give her that – she’s Jewish!’ It was a hamAsksandwich.”Angelaabout Bruno the donkey from Dubai, Casey in California (also Jewish) or Coco the Sussex Burmese, and she’ll regale you with anecdotes about them or their siblings or the

inevitable new pet a er losing another. But the Laws aren’t unique (well, a bit) as Trusted Housesitters has others like them and signing up also gives the sitter use of a free 24/7 Vet Advice Line when you are away. Maybe you’ll be less wary now. PetSafe® also Smart Feed Feeder

Automatic Pet

Pet’icular People

Barclay

“WenavalhistimetabletheastheeagerlyDiego,Meanwhile,years.inSanBarclayawaitsLaws’arrival,theykeeptoregimentedsetbyowner,aretiredcommander.dogo‘atease’

Teasel the cat welcomes the Scotland-based Laws to her Barnes abode whenever her parents go to their other home in Massachusetts.

Teasel

PETSItwouldprobably

The UK arm of the Israel Guide Dog Centre is proud and privileged to be bringing one such partnership to the UK in November for the organisation’s annual reception. This is the first time an IDF veteran has travelled to the UK with their service dog for such an occasion and the charity is looking forward to welcoming them. For more information about the work of the Israel Guide Dog Centre or about the visit in November, please contact martin@israelguidedog.org.uk

you still want a vacation. If the thought of inviting a stranger into your home to look a er your animals is more alarming than an excessive boarding bill, think again. Trusted Housesitters was founded by animal lovers and provides verified sitters with references so you feel safe and in control. Sign up with them and you can scroll through a list of available pet lovers who enjoy living in di erent parts of the UK or the world for short or extended periods. Angela is one of those sitters who, with her husband John, has looked a er animals across theHerglobe.love for the wards in her temporary care is best illustrated by the photos she has of each one, many of whom she has minded multiple times. Ziggy was only five months old when the Laws first looked a er him.

“Teasel helps me when I’m working from home,” says Angela, who has looked a er the obliging cat for the

come as no surprise that the dogs trained by the Israel Guide Dog Centre have an incredible transformative impact on the lives of Israelis who are blind or severely visually impaired. However, it may be more of a surprise to know the impact that these amazing animals also have on IDF veterans su ering from the o en paralysing e ect of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of all they have been through for theirPTSDcountry.canhave the most terrible impact on someone’s life. Even the sound of a phone ringing can send them into shock, and the thought of venturing outside becomes impossible. Broken sleep, owing to recurring nightmares, can leave the su erer too exhausted to think properly. But all this changes when they are partnered with one of the centre’s speciallytrained dogs. Their calming influence, ability to comfort when needed and unquestioning love and support turns lives around, enabling these brave veterans to retake their rightful place in Israeli society.

Being asked to do a survey a er a hotel stay is not uncommon, but it’s never o ered to pets. If it were, Angela Laws would get five star ratings from pets she looks a er. Head of community at Trusted Housesitters, the company is the one you need when the cost of minders and kennels gets scary, but

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Jewish and living with his family in north London, Ziggy redesigned a pair of shoes and prescription glasses under Angela’s watch, but – “it was my fault for leaving them where his teeth were”.

makes the

(£174.99), which allows owners to manage pet mealtimes from anywhere using their smartphone.Connectthe feeder to your home’s Wi-Fi and enjoy convenient meal scheduling and smartphone alerts that update owners when a pet’s been fed, when food level is low, or the feeder is empty. petsafe.com/UK Transforming Lives One Dog At A Time Drink Up Pet It carbonstayfresh,runningbecausereluctantencourageswaterdrinkers,it’sandsotheyhydratedand

at times though,” admits Angela, who receives Mother’s Day cards from Barclay. “He goes for a drive every a ernoon at 4pm in his Barclay Mobile – a Mercedes Benz, of course – to his favourite dog park and sits waiting inside the car in the garage at 3.30pm. He can tell the time.”

08081trustedhousesitters.com785384 Make it a happy and healthy New Year for your pets by investing in a PetSafe® Drinkwell® Butterfly Pet Fountain foamcarbonandstayfresh,runningbecausereluctant(£28.99)Itencourageswaterdrinkers,it’sandsotheyhydratedtheandfiltersremovepethair, debris and bad tastes from the water.

10 Golders Green Road London NW11 8LL Opposite Cafe Nero Open everyday & Sundays til 5:00pm Suits from £79.50 Overcoats from £79.50 Trouser Bargains £25 Raincoats from £49.50 We accept Large Sizes a speciality Shirtsuptosize23instock SUITS AND JACKETS ALL ½ PRICE RAINCOATS FROM £29.50 WINTER CASUAL JACKETS FROM £29.50 SHIRT OFFERS £15 EACH ANY 2 FOR £20.00 TROUSER BARGAINS £20 EACH 2 FOR £30 UP TO 46 WAIST AUTUMN BARGAINS FOR ALL, SPECIALISING IN LARGE SIZES MORNINGSUITSANDDINNERSUITSSTOCKED EVENTSTovaShana|COURSES|SHOP Find out how you can learn with expert teachers at LSJS online WWW.LSJS.AC.UK

London to Tel Aviv from £284* (Taxes & hand luggage included) BOOK NOW elal.co.uk Call centre: 0203 2040300 Or your preferred travel agent *Subject to availability. T&Cs apply. Travel period 01Nov22-15Mar23 When I Dream

Yehuda Market ELA0027_Jewish_Ad_EthnicBrief_260x165_vFNL2.indd 2 16/09/2022 12:03

Mahane

The most daunting aspect of starting out as an agent?

What were the biggest hurdles?

“You simply can’t recreate the type of knowledge, experience and passion that comes from a 50-year career like Roy’s,” says Jason Oshiokpekhai, managing director of Global Travel Collection UK.

“His ongoing contribution to Colletts as brand ambassador and mentor to professionals across our organisation brings incredible value to Global Travel Collection, Intervova and all our clients. We’re proud to have him as part of our family.” And with such praise comes the need to know more about Roy.

A er leaving school and not fulfilling my dream of joining Tottenham Hotspur! My late sister, Sandra, saw an advert for an o ice junior at Peltours in Wigmore Street. This involved delivering tickets to wealthy homes and o ices around London. I used to listen to

clients discussing holidays from the display brochures. As I loved travelling, it looked like a career I would enjoy.

How di erent was the business 50 years ago?

Most memorable first holiday alone?

s familiar to us as Freddie Laker in his heyday, Roy Collett has been at the hub of our travel expectations forever.

JOURNEYplaces RUNAROUND ROY

With my parents to the Adriatic Riviera in Italy. One of my memories is of the glacé fruit and gelato they sold on the beach, where I also played

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Back then, retail travel agents booked holidays through tour

First childhood holiday?

Why did you become a travel agent?

football with Italians. We were even photographed for a 1964 holiday brochure on a tour boat. I must’ve been destined for the travel industry.

leaflets promoting our services with the headline: ‘For a better service than John McEnroe, and a better return for your money.’ With advertising, we slowly built a reputation in the area.

When I was 17, with friends on a Thomson Package to Lloret de Mar. I loved the freedom of being alone. We felt very grown up and spent the day – or from when we eventually got up – at the beach and partied in nightclubs until the early hours.

Over the years, we’ve been through the Gulf War, tsunamis, 9/11, ash clouds and various airline strikes. All hurdles can be overcome... To continue to grow the business, in 1986 we launched our own USA tour operation, Key to America, specialising in tailor-made holidays to the States. It was very successful and we sold bespoke holidays direct to clients and through travel agents all over the UK.

operator brochures. There were no low-cost airlines, hotel booking sites, social media or email. Today there are many independent contractors who are self-employed trading under our ABTA/ATOL/IATA licences, with various brand names. My stepson, Alex, for example trades as Seven Icons.

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This year, Roy Collett celebrates his golden anniversary in travel. But he was always going

A er various jobs in the industry, I opened Colletts Travel in Hendon in 1983. I applied for an ABTA licence – and it was a relief when we were accepted as we could then trade to sell package holidays. I had three desks, one junior sta member and a Prestel computer system, which was like the old Teletext booking service. I sent out

When did Colletts start to garner a reputation?

The business is mainly the Jewish market and visiting family. It has had many ups and downs due to uncertainty in the region. The gastronomy has improved dramatically and there are now some incredible, restaurants. It’s also excellent for weddings – my wife and I have attended a few.

preferential rates on hotels, flights and so much more.

What are you doing to mark your 50 years?

Have you ever spent the High Holy Days in Israel?

The plane landed and our luggage could not be retrieved from the aircra because one of the luggage compartments would not open.

Perhaps that’s why the company’s client rate of return is 95 percent year-on-year. There’s no limit

What has been the most enjoyable bit?

I’m very proud to have been in the business for 50 years and I would still recommend the travel business as a career – and not just for those who don’t qualify for Spurs.

What are your favourite places?

Global Travel Collection has arranged a huge celebration in October at a London hotel to which many hotel and travel suppliers, general managers and sta have been invited.

LUXURY ISN’T ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL Colletts Travel believes that truly high-end experiences come from a journey crafted just for you. Advisers create itineraries built around your interests and desires, delivering concierge services to plan every detail of your trip.

The business has much more legislation and regulations to stay on top of and the pressure on travel agents to get it all right is immense, especially a er two years of Covid with the various rules on testing and entry requirements.

It was Christmas Eve, the pilot couldn’t wait for the hold to be fixed, and flew home. We didn’t have our luggage and neither did many of our clients, who were very angry. Obviously, there wasn’t a lot I could do. The luggage followed four days later. It was terrible.

Artiﬁcial intelligence can’t negotiate room

The invitations I receive to countries around the world, as well as the many trade shows and events I’m able to attend.

Bringing the

ew places, new people and new ideas is what travel is all about. There’s nothing like it to expand the mind and create lifechanging experiences.

Mainly yes, but you quickly learn the trends in travel, and in the early days the United States, Marbella and Eilat were very popular.

What is the toughest part of being an agent now?

Travel agent Roy Collett trading in the 1980s

Which countries have you not visited but want to visit? South America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

upgrades or provide complimentary perks. Algorithms can’t direct you to secret spots or off-the-beaten-track places known to a select few.

There are too many!

Rosewood Las Ventanas in Los Cabos, Mexico; Mandarin Oriental in Marrakech; Four Seasons in Maui, Hawaitt; Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain; Regis Mardavall in Mallorca.

Yes, frequently. The worst experience was some time ago on a family holiday to Eilat, where many clients were on board the same flight.

Colletts is now part of a bigger company – what are the advantages for clients?

We sold the business in 2017 to Travel Leaders Group (now Internova Travel Group), one of the largest travel organisations in North America. Our business is part of its Global Travel Collection division. Colletts still trades in Hendon but, with a huge company behind us, we have combined purchasing power to o er clients

Travel restrictions and entry requirements are ever-shifting. Researching the latest guidance can take hours and still leave you confused. Colletts Travel advisers stay on top of the changes, plan your trip and keep you notiﬁed of everything you’ll need, so you’re never left with missing forms or the wrong entry visa.

How has travel to Israel changed?

BOOK IT 102 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

Do you bump into clients when you’re away?

Before recommending a destination or a hotel, have you stayed there?

Only a trip to the Dead Sea over Passover. Everyone was praying in the lobby.

Yet, so often, today’s journeys are managed by bots and algorithms. We’re told that machines can build the perfect trip for us without ever really getting to know us. Colletts Travel is a company that understands the power of booking with a human instead of a robot. Modern travel sites might say they know everything about you. But bots can’t sit in your front room over a cup of tea and hear about what made your honeymoon special. They can’t take note of everything you didn’t like about travelling to your family reunion ﬁve years ago. And they don’t know your youngest is about to start university in the autumn, so you want to mark it with the perfect trip together.

BENEFITS OF BOOKING WITH AN ADVISER Wherever you might dream of going, Colletts Travel advisers have been there. They can curate an experience tailor-made for you and your family, using their direct, personal relationships with travel suppliers around the world to secure exclusive amenities and premium beneﬁts.

By 1986, a er three years of trading. We had retained many repeat customers and some corporate travel accounts and decided to specialise in travel to the USA with Key to America. In 1997, my business partner Michael Berlin joined the business, which continued to thrive. We sold it in 2017.

Travel is restored, but no one wants to risk getting it wrong. Or be stranded with no help. The perfect trip, without any worries, requires a specialist

With travel disruption a seemingly non-stop occurrence, it’s never been more important to get support before, during and when returning home from a trip. An adviser provides the personalised assistance you need, whether your ﬂight gets cancelled, your bag gets lost or you need to rework your plans at the last minute.

to where you can travel with Colletts, whether you want to dine on congee in Hong Kong, hike Huayna Picchu in Peru, check into Borgo Egnazia in Italy, cruise along a Nordic fjord, or relax on the beach in Playa del Carmen.

Your holiday is too important to be left in the hands of an algorithm. Book with Colletts Travel and experience the difference the human touch can make.

Building on a brand Roy Collett created in 1983, the company’s advisers are particularly strong in southern Europe and across the Mediterranean into Israel.

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Multi-generational travel and family holidays are a speciality, as well as bespoke tours, corporate trips, wellness travel and multi-segment itineraries across multiple destinations.Gainentry to exclusive perks and privileges at the world’s finest hotels, resorts, villas and tour providers when you book through your Colletts Travel adviser. The company also partners with elite cruise operators, including Silver Seas, Cunard and Regent Seven Seas

human touch

www.collettstravel.com/020 8202 8101

was packing my suitcase for Spain. For me, the time to visit Marbella is a er the summer season… once the crowds have le , the temperatures have dipped slightly below the ‘pass me the fan’ stage and the area takes on a more relaxed vibe.

It is neither of those things. Relaxed and informal, its contemporary design belies the fact that it opened in 1979. Arriving at the low-lying check-in area, you get the feeling of arriving at a club –which figures, as it is the under same

It’s a large resort and we were driven through it to our room in a buggy with our luggage loaded on the back. Already I was in holiday mode. Designed to look like a Spanish village, whitewashed buildings awash with rambling bougainvillea line a mass of winding walkways, some stretching down to the sea, planted out on either side with lush gardens. At the heart of the complex is the authentic Roman bridge that gives the resort its name. This is a vestige of the old Roman road linking Rome andTheCadiz.hotel has 185 bedrooms and each has its own front door to the outside so it feels like your own home in Spain. Décor is cool, calm and ‘natural’ with lots of bleached wood, white paintwork, marble flooring and touches of blue. A er checking out all our room’s features – sumptuous bathroom with Natura Bisse toiletries,

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ownership as The Marbella Club next door. No formal reception area here: sit down, have a drink, press a few buttons on an iPad and you’re in!

hile young mothers were packing their firstbackpackschildren’sforthedayofterm,I

bit of theatre going on, which elevates this to a really special experience

BRIDGINGTRAVEL THE

A ernoons by the pool are my thing on holiday and there are a few to choose from. I settled for the one nearest the sea front to capture the breeze. Working out in the gym is my husband’s idea of relaxation and he was in the very best place for that. This is a mindblowing space with the latest TechnoGym equipment (curved running machines!) and a spin studio, a boxing studio plus lots of other areas with equipment that looked scary to me but my husband was cooing over. There are classes and one-to-one training sessions from professional athletes. Have you ever seen a living wall in a gym before?! I was told this li s the mood, and makes us train better. If you prefer the real outdoors, there is a new jungle gym in the grounds.

If you do want to take your kids there is a Mini Club for 0-4s, Teen Spirit for 12-18s and the new La Casita for 5- 12-year-olds. This has been transformed from one of the resort’s spacious upscale villas, giving them their own home for a great programme of experiences plus a games room, indoor cinema and swimming pool. There’s even the option to go horseriding.

Above: bedroom at Puente Romano

Padron peppers

Sea Grill Restaurant has great views

pretty balcony, giant TV and fabulous walk-in wardrobe - we walked straight down to Chiringuito beach restaurant where there was a DJ playing and a palpable buzz. People were sitting at tables or on sofas directly on the sand. Cocktails at lunch time seems to be a thing here and when in Marbs… An extensive menu o ers up healthy takes on pretty much anything you could imagine you’d want to eat by the beach for lunch and we tucked into tuna tartare with avocado, smoky aubergine, Padron peppers and gazpacho.

The beachfront pool at Puente Romano

Right: a delicious dinner cooked on the Josper grill

Puente Romano prides itself on o ering 100 experiences every day. My experience was 100 percent.

Rooms at Puente Romano start at £351.50 per night B&B. puenteromano.com

Louisa Walters heads to Marbella for some post-summer sun

I have always wanted to go to Puente Romano. When I was a little girl it was a hotel my grandparents used to visit. They called it ‘The’ Puente Romano and it always sounded so grand and posh.

and all rituals use oils, salts and herbs from southern Spain.

We chose to eat at Sea Grill overlooking the beach. A large restaurant (which also houses the spectacular breakfast bu et, complete with chocolate fondue), it specialises in grilled food. A er a silkysmooth curried coconut soup and a beef tartare, we shared a spectacular glazed smoky lamb shoulder cooked on the Josper grill, together with fat juicy asparagus and confit tomatoes. Where possible, dishes are finished and plated up at the table so there’s a

The gym is next to the Six Senses Spa, which focusses on natural healing

There are more than 15 restaurants at Puente Romano, most of which are around La Plaza, a large central open-air lounge/bar area which comes alive as the sun goes down. Very much a place to meet, drink, and people-watch, the music gets louder as the night gets darker, until it’s full-on party vibes. It’s fabulous. Among the restaurants is Lena, chef Dani Garcia’s steak house which has been voted most beautiful restaurant in the world, Serafina for fantastic Italian food and Nobu, which needs no introduction.

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Documents dating as far back as 1415 show that Taormina, too, had a very small Jewish community but the Dominican friars were hugely intolerant of them, twice forcing

Louisa Walters uncovers the Jewish history of the island and the magic of its prettiest town

In 2018, the Archdiocese of Palermo donated a building to the Jewish community to build a synagogue in Vicolo Meschita, the old Jewish quarter. Archbishop Corrado Lorefice was honoured with the Wallenberg Medal for having enabled the rebirth of the Jewish community of Palermo with this donation, as well as for his promotion of interreligious dialogue.

TRAVEL Xxxxxxxxxxx

them to displace the synagogue and the cemetery, saying they were disturbed by their loud prayers. The street names Vico Ebrei and Via Giudecca are pretty much the only indication that there were once Jews in the town.

Grand Hotel Timeo is a beautiful, elegant, opulent hotel - the sort that one travels to Italy for. It has mod cons, of course (including a Dyson

sizeable Jewish community, before they were forced to leave in 1493 when the Spanish Inquisition reached the island. Very few returned but in 1987 a mikveh was discovered in Syracuse and this sparked renewed interest in the island’s Jewish heritage. Rabbi Stefano Di Mauro, who was born in Sicily but emigrated to the US, discovered as his mother was dying that his family was Jewish. He converted and returned to the island in 2007 to re-establish Jewish life. He is the first orthodox rabbi in the region for more than 500 years.

associations began to organise festivities, research and conferences in the capital, Palermo. The mayor replaced the street signs with ones featuring the names of the streets in Hebrew and Arabic letters as well as Latin, to pay homage to the island’s multicultural past. Since 2013 Palermo has hosted a public menorah lighting in the Palazzo Steri, the former headquarters of the Inquisition, where many Jews were detained, tortured and killed. The walls are still covered by the prisoners’ gra iti — among which are many Jewish names and some Hebrew inscriptions.

Dream 108 LIFE jewishnews.co.uk

Jews LaneVia-Meschita

Sicily was once home to a

neighbour, Grand Hotel Timeo, a Belmond hotel, occupies an unparalleled position. Despite being in the centre of this small hilltop metropolis, it has six acres of gardens, a large pool area and a panoramic terrace that is very much the beating heart of the resort. Those who prefer to be by the sea can use the facilities or indeed stay at sister hotel Villa Sant’Andrea, which sits at the water’s edge in the secluded Bay of Mazzarò. There’s a shuttle to ferry you between the two.

Taormina is full of pretty, winding streets

Following this the Italian Institute of Jewish Studies and other

There may be very little Jewish interest in Taormina, arguably Italy’s prettiest town, but there is plenty else of interest to anyone who loves breathtaking views, exceptional food, fabulous shops and gorgeous hotels, and with warm sunshine right through to November it’s ideal for an autumn trip. With majestic Mount Etna as a backdrop and the ancient Greek amphitheatre as its

have never seen so many restaurants in one town as I did in Taormina. They are on the streets, along the alleys, on the steps and in hidden courtyards. The pasta dishes they serve are caressed with sauces and ingredients we don’t see in other parts of Italy - tagliolini with red mullet ragout, wild fennel, raisins and pine nuts was notable and so too was linguini with pistachio and lemon. But it was the Sicilian-style carbonara that brought me the most joy – diced tuna tartare instead of guanciale means that it’s not forbidden for we Jews.

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partners, giving us great buying power. This means we can discount the prices of resorts, hotels, wine, and big brands by up to a third. We are linked to future-proof technology that scans the markets to find the best prices and then we discount further and/or add value to your buy.

Osteria Rosso Divino

BEACHFRONT GLAMOUR

Down at sea level and down 122 steps which need to be climbed back up but it’s absolutely worth it!

up to the ruins of the castle, which was built as a lookout to prevent Taormina from attacks. The 5k walk back down is a popular activity but being north London Jews, we took another taxi down. Back at base, wander through the crumbling Victorian follies in the Villa Comunale public gardens, once owned by a Scottish noblewoman called Lady Florence Trevelyan. When in Rome, sorry Taormina, a visit to the opera is a must and we enjoyed a medley of arias. The ancient Greek amphitheatre is reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome in size and majesty but with a much more picturesque backdrop, and is regularly used to stage concerts (Simple Minds were on while we were there).

La Botte

Romantic tucked-away courtyard

Metropole Hotel terrace Drinks with a view

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Right: Villa Comunale public Below:gardensdine outdoors at VillaAbove:Sant’AndreaaGrand Hotel Timeo Lebedroom:thebeach at Villa Sant’Andrea

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BIJOU BOUTIQUE

room from Don Francesco La Floresta at his home, Timeo. He depicted the captivating views in a series of watercolours, which gained a reputation (one is still in the hotel). More artists came, a er which the house was developed into a smart hotel and Taormina became a stop on the Grand Tour undertaken by wealthy young men and women. In 1920, DH Lawrence famously penned Lady Chatterley’s Lover at the hotel, and over the next couple of decades much of Hollywood’s glamorous elite came to stay – Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren among them. In July 2022, I checked it out.

Trattoria Il Barcaiolo

Secret garden under a canopy of lemon trees

hairdryer in the bedrooms), but this is a Grand Dame hotel, una ected by today’s ‘less is more’ approach to decor. The main areas are filled with tapestries, oil paintings, chandeliers, antiques and polished parquet floors. The 70 bedrooms, most of which have a jaw- dropping view past the hotel’s manicured gardens down to the ancient town and the rugged coastline, are unapologetically luxurious with sumptuous, delightfully traditional furnishings, and open on to marble bathrooms with own-blend Acqua di Parma toiletries. Turndown service includes herbal tea being le on the bedside table in a delicate china cup.

Rosmarino

Dinner on the terrace at Timeo Restaurant is up there with the most memorable dining experiences I have ever had. The stunning view, the attentive service and the wonderful ambience are matched in splendour by the food. The same can be said for dinner down at Villa Sant’ Andrea, where there is also the opportunity to have a table set up right by the sea for the ultimate romantic date. The tasting menu takes you through a roster of Sicily’s typical dishes, many of which are fish or vegetarian. The appropriately-named Otto Geleng restaurant is a 16-seater Michelin star o ering, while the Pool Grill restaurant is informal for lunch or you can order dishes to your thick-cushioned deckbed. At breakfast there is a light bu et and hot dishes to order on the amazing terrace, but the bigger treat is having it delivered to your room to enjoy on your balcony.

Elegant, superb food)

The story goes that Prussian baron Otto Geleng travelled to Taormina in 1863 and rented a

On our last day at Grand Hotel Timeo there was a wedding – not a Jewish one, although this is entirely possible here. I can see only one negative to getting married in such a uniquely special place. Nothing and nowhere will ever match up to it. It’s all downhill from here.

Due to our international footprint, we’ve attracted an amazing range of business

Grand Hotel Timeo

SICILIAN COMFORT

Rooms at Grand Hotel Timeo start at £635 B&B. Rooms at Villa Sant’Andrea start at £790 B&B. belmond.com

Casual, inexpensive, very lively, be prepared to queue

WHERE TO EAT

The views from Grand Hotel Timeo are breathtaking

Be our guest!

There are lots of activities available at the hotel including a Colouring the World art installation (until December) - a coloured path through the gardens, and Totem Cristal – various glass structures that represent the unity of di erent cultures around the world. If you can tear yourself away from the glorious hotel and the town with its cacophony of little boutiques, take a 10-minute taxi ride to medieval hilltop village Castelmola to see the magnificent views from even higher up. Once there we climbed

We put together luxury travel, lifestyle and loyalty incentive programmes to o er significant added value when shopping for holidays and shopping generally.

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Villa Sant’Andrea

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Villa Belvedere

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Visitors can see and swim with dolphins in Eilat

The Eilat sunshine is ready and waiting this winter. There’s never been a more exciting time to visit and the options are there for one and all to enjoy; there’s truly something for every traveller.

Coral Beach is a famed nature reserve, national park and conservation area and makes access to the reefs easy. On-site facilities – beach service, sun loungers, showers and a shop – make it easy to spend a day there. There are shallow wading pools in which children can paddle and even bridges and lookouts over the reef that provide visitors the opportunity to discover the rich and amazing diversity of the sea, without ever getting their feet wet, if that is their desire.

ilat has well and truly reopened for business. Listed as one of TripAdvisor’s Top 10 World Destinations on the rise in its 2017 Travellers’ Choice Awards, the Red Sea resort city has well and truly risen. That it has luxurious hotels, clubs, restaurants and stunning beaches is known, notably by those who love the place. And anyone who has been diving, snorkelling or surfing there will vouch for it being one of the most beautiful sites in the world for such pursuits

The city itself leaves nothing to be desired. Nightlife and restaurants – which offer the food that has for a long time given Israel a reputation as a culinary world leader –are there to be enjoyed, while tax-free malls, along with Bazaar Eilat, will satisfy the most ardent shopper.

Lior Mucznik, chairman of the Eilat Hotels Association and general manager of Fattal’s Herods Premium Collection brand, was keen to emphasise this upgrade and expansion Eilat is experiencing. With the addition of new brands also comes fabulous refurbishments, as with the beloved Leonardo and the unique U Splash Resort, which underwent a full renovation 18 months ago.

Of course, it’s easy to simply sit on the pristine sand, under the shade of a palm or two, sipping a cocktail, perhaps getting up for a refreshing swim now and then in

Astral, the group with the three-star to five-star market covered, is focusing on a much-awaited, new low-cost hotel and it’s a game-changer. “With low-cost flights to Israel now available, low-cost accommodation is a natural next step,” Asher Gabay, CEO of Astral Hotels tells

me. Being built from scratch in the Lagoon Marina, just five minutes from the beach and set to open in 2024, this new lifestyle hotel will have 456 rooms costing no more than 300 shekels (just over £75) per night, per couple, on a room-only basis. There will be interconnecting rooms for families too. Add-ons, such as pool access or parking, will cost extra but will be reasonable, and there will be a milky restaurant on site.

CARON BLUESTONE DISCOVERS THE EILAT WE’VE BEEN MISSING. REBUILT, REINVIGORATED AND FULL OF WINTER SUNSHINE, IT’S READY TO WELCOME YOU BACK

The open-arm welcome to a once-familiar place where you can take a ride on a glass-bottomed boat, or drive your own, is now much more enticing because Eilat is booming – and with flair. Eli Lankri, the energetic mayor of Eilat, says: “We are currently in a tremendous development process of new luxury hotels alongside low-budget hotels, a new and spectacular promenade, tourist attractions and infrastructure.”

The main hotel chains – Isrotel, Astral, Fattal and Dan – are all well-represented, and many with more than just one option, but one of the most interesting, scheduled to open in 2023, is the Dan’s new glamping complex on the beach.

It is under the water that I find added appeal.

With 10,000 fish, dolphin reef, corals and sponges, it’s a multicoloured adventure in the deep, but those who prefer to stay dry can experience this at the awe-inspiring Oceanarium.

You may also recall the guaranteed sunshine –nine hours a day to be exact, 330 days of the year – but it’s a useful nudge with our utility bills rising, as natural heat has never been more appealing.

The Gulf of Eilat is unique in that it is protected by mountains. The stability in the weather that this brings makes the coral reefs unique and teeming with endemic species. On Almog beach, you’ll also find Coral World, an underwater observatory that extends 100 metres from the shoreline, combined with an awe- inspiring Oceanarium and myriad entertaining activities from turtle and stingray pools to virtual reality cinema experiences.

Winter is also the time for desert hiking in Timna Park. Whereas summer brings sweltering temperatures, it’s in the cooler months that the desert comes into its own. Kibbutzim such as Yotvata, Ketura and Elifaz each offer fascinating insights into their unique situations. At Hai Bar nature reserve, you can view rams, white antelope and ostriches in their natural habitat; in Ketura, the world’s first solar-powered field that is cleaned by robots! For the artists, a trip to Neot Semadar Arts Centre and Winery, with its fascinating workshops, is a must and, for budding ecologists, Kibbutz Lotan has turned the desert into a flourishing green paradise, complete with a children’s playground.

LOVINGEilat

the pleasant waters that lap the beach. I, however, need a bit more activity.

Guy Adiran, CEO of Dan Eilat, explained that its latest opening would be a focus on affordable luxury. A place to attract a younger, vibrant and sociable crowd –families and singles alike. Fans of Broitman Bakery will be able to get their daily fix, with a new tie-up between the brands. So, contrary to popular belief, Israel is becoming more affordable.

There is huge investment in, and development of, the coastline and the city, all to the benefit of us tourists. Meanwhile, Isrotel is enriching the uber-luxury end of the market – its newest addition will feature a floating pool on the roof – and there’s a Hotel W expected in 2024.

LIFE jewishnews.co.uk 113 TRAVEL

JCoSS has not, as some feared, created oversupply of school places or undermined Jewish education or community; rather, it has expanded the market, especially among those who might not otherwise choose a Jewish school. In creating a new ‘brand’ of Jewish schooling, recognised and trusted both for inclusion and for outcomes, we have also sought to widen and warm the embrace of the community.

This year’s apples-and-honey combination, as I mark my final Rosh Hashanah at JCoSS, was already likely to be a poignant mix of sharp and sweet, as I review the harvest of a 33-year teaching career so far, and contemplate something new and uncertain when I leave the school in December. Then, into this heady mixture, came news of the death of Her Majesty the Queen.

Thirdly, the model bids us to identify honestly the emotions brought up by the prospect of leaving. The flip side of love, as we know, is grief; whatever the relief, satisfaction, fear, gratitude, regret and insecurity, there is plenty of straightforward sadness, too, in leaving a place that I love. As with the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Queen’s death looks likely to be an affordance for many other griefs and an intensifier of them. It is certainly proving so for me.

interesting in that it is a kosher substance even though the bee that makes it is non-kosher. The rabbis disagree (who knew?!) about how to explain this, but as this gentile and priest contemplates stepping down from JCoSS, it seems an eloquent and rich symbol.

Second, we need to celebrate what has been accomplished, however small. In the case of JCoSS, there is plenty to look back on with satisfaction, especially given the apprehension of some in the community before we opened in 2010. JCoSS has taken its place alongside the other schools, adding much-needed capacity and bringing to the mix a new model that works for many.

I am trying to draw upon it already as I contemplate change on a rather smaller scale. A planned departure from 13 years leading a school barely registers alongside what the Queen’s death means to the nation and the world. But a change of monarch and prime minister in the same week is certainly an intense backdrop as I enter this final term, and the conflicting feelings are familiar.

Jewish communal discussions are sometimes beset by self-recrimination and anguish that things are not as they should be, or not as they were – and it has always been a source of comfort to me to see others wrestling just as desperately as the Church of England with the place of religion and identity in the modern age

As well as resonating better with the harvest of the natural world it is, of course, ideal in Judaism – where it chimes with the religious rhythms of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It’s almost enough to make one think that Hashem planned the school year to start at this time (admittedly, four broken teaching weeks in the first half of term is possible counter-evidence...).

Even before the death of Her Majesty, this nation was facing change on a huge scale. Losing its archetypal bedrock makes that more challenging, in ways we may not even realise yet. The contribution of Judaism to the nation’s spiritual life is incalculable, and a precious gift that I will forever cherish.

L’shana tova tikateivu v’teichateimu!

’s imminent departure from JCoSS means these will be his last High Holy Days as the school’s headteacher. The reality of this, the changes we face, and the prospect of a new year provide the threads of his poetic epilogue for Life Magazine

Others can decide whether JCoSS has made more Jews or made better Jews. What I can say is that – through countless conversations with colleagues, community leaders, students and parents – leading it has made me a better Christian and a better priest.

THE LAST WORD

I am already struck by having to inhabit, simultaneously, several different emotional biospheres: the ongoing stimulation and challenge of running a school; the need to plan practically for handover and departure; the excitement and apprehension of future projects; and the sheer uncertainty of what lies ahead – as much ‘who will I be?’ as ‘what will I do?’

The time since has been a complex swirl of emotions. At the proclamation of the new King less than two days later, flags were raised from half-mast to full-mast and then back again to half-mast. It was an apt visualisation of the national mood, trying to hold alongside each other grief and sorrow on the one hand as we look back, and excitement and joy on the other as we look forward.

T hose who work in schools, whether as staff or as students, are lucky that our annual opportunity for new starts and resolutions comes as the school year begins in September. It’s so much better than January: rather than trying to reinvent ourselves in the cold darkness of winter we get to do it in the warmth of late summer – after a six-week break.

Alongside these is a process of anticipatory grief as I prepare to take my leave from what has been a source of joy, friendship, pride and identity for me over 13 years. An excellent session run by the Pears Foundation introduced a helpful four-stage model (‘Endings for Beginnings’, proposed by Lizzie Bentley Bowers and Alison Lucas), which is proving a very helpful tool for navigating the journey.

To begin the new well, they suggest, we need to end the old well. That means, first, that we name the ending, which in my case was something helped by the need to give a full year’s notice, and an announcement schedule and script planned months ahead.

The honey that so characterises Rosh Hashanah is

For all the theological and communal complexity in that aim, the application statistics say there is kosher honey in it. To have witnessed and helped to lead the journey from 143 students when we opened to nearly 1,400 today is a source of huge pride, and to be welcomed in doing so from beyond the community has been an experience of real sweetness.

But as these High Holy Days begin, with all their opportunities for reflection, renewal and repentance, and all the grief they stir up, I stand in unfailing admiration of what the Jewish community is and does, both in its learning and in its life, both in how it changes and in how it remains the same.

ofPrincipalhonour

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Last, there is a need to devise some sort of ritual (whether with small or big ‘r’) to mark the end, and we are working creatively on that one. The ‘Endings for Beginnings’ model is a secular approach but, for anyone used to the religious dynamics of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, or their counterparts in other traditions, its spiritual resonances are not hard to find in this landscape of reflection, preparation, celebration and change.

“The Queen is dead; long live the King” encapsulates this jarring combination, but mourning loss while affirming the continuity of life is precisely what is embodied in the Jewish response to those bereaved: ‘I wish you long life’. To the uninitiated (reader, that was me just a few years ago…) it may sound bracing, even callous, but it expresses a deep wisdom upon which the nation needs to draw in the weeks and months ahead.

Please support our 36-hour crowdfunder campaign on Sunday 23rd to Monday 24th October when we can all come together to enable our Members to live their best lives and be their best true selves.

With your help this new year, together, we can continue to enable Livingness.

Registered Charity no. 1142742

For the last 30 years, Langdon has been working together in partnership with families, support workers, volunteers, trustees and donors to empower independence for hundreds of young people and adults with learning disabilities and autism across the UK.

Donate and find out more at langdonuk.org/30together

Shana Tova