Still we shine Freedland Community celebrates in Trafalgar Square p6
on Farage A curious case of silence P20
VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 18 December 2025 • 28 Kislev 5786 • Issue No.1450 •
@JewishNewsUK
Murder, mourn, repeat Yaakov Levitan, 39
Dan Elkayam, 27
Boris, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61
Matilda, 10
Edith Brutman
VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS
How many more dead Jews before the West wakes up to Islamism? Another terror attack. Another round of vigils. Another series of horrified statements from politicians. We’ve been here before. And unless our leaders have the courage and determination to address the issue, we will be here again. And again. The ideology of Islamism has been allowed to flourish, almost entirely unchecked. Extremist imams rant about Jews in their sermons. Social media is a sewer, awash with indoctrination for weak and susceptible minds. A loose coalition of activist groups walk hand in hand with far-left politicians. And the result – time after time – is dead bodies on Western streets. Often, those dead bodies are Jewish. Little is done. The many Muslims who also despise such extremism are not given the help and resources necessary to fight the seeping poison in their midst and in their name. Words like “community cohesion” are wielded as bludgeons by deeply cynical actors. Vital attempts to bridge the divide between Jews and Muslims are routinely targeted by Islamist extremists, who harass those seeking unity. This week – finally – the Metropolitan Police commissioner and the Greater Manchester Police chief constable have indicated that the police will now act more decisively in the face of clear incitement from pro-Palestinian protestors, such as calls to “globalise the intifada”. While this step is welcome, there is understandable suspicion that it will not be properly enforced, as well as serious questions as to why it has taken so long for this action to be announced. And it is still unclear whether governments – here or abroad – are willing to face facts. Australia is now talking about further gun control. Gun control is important. But in this context, it’s like fighting fire by banning candles instead of targeting those calling for arson. It should not take the dead bodies of our loved ones, whether in Manchester or Sydney, for governments to finally take antisemitism seriously. It should not need any newspaper, including our own, to have to point this out. • Other named victims of Bondi attack not pictured are Alexander Kleytman, Tibor Weitzen and Marika Pogany
Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41
Reuven Morrison, 62
Peter Meagher
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Jewish News 18 December 2025
News / Bondi Beach attack
After Bondi massacre, Australia’s Jewish community has called for “decisive leadership and action” from the country’s government, after a terror attack on a Chanukah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi beach killed 15 people and left dozens wounded, writes Daniel Sugarman. Jews worldwide reacted with horror to news of the attack, which took place on Sunday evening at an event hosted by the city’s local Chabad when two terrorists with multiple weapons opened fire on the crowd. One shooter was subsequently killed by armed police and another incapacitated and taken into custody. Police have confirmed the attackers, a father and son, had affiliations with the Islamic State terror group. The named victims of the attack included a 10-year-old girl identified as Matilda and Alexander Kleytman, a Ukrainian-born Holocaust survivor, who died shielding his wife from the bullets. Dan Elkayam, a French Jew who moved to Australia last year, was named as another casualty, along with Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, who served as secretary of the Sydney Beth Din, and Peter Meagher, a retired police officer and friend of the Jewish community. Tibor Weitzen, 78, Marika Pogany, 82 and Edith Brutman were also among the named victims. Another of those killed was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Chabad representative who was one of the key organisers of the event. Rabbi Schlanger, a 41-year old father of five, was born and raised in the UK. Speaking to Jewish News, Rabbi Schlanger’s first cousin, Brighton-based Rabbi Zalman Lewis, described the moment he realised his relative was among the dead. “I left shul this morning and saw mes-
sages from my wife and sister on the family WhasApp group”, he said. “They recognised one of the names people were being asked to pray for. “It quickly became clear what had happened. We are just beginning to process this. It makes no sense at all. How can a joyful rabbi who went to a beach to spread happiness and light, to make the world a better place, have his life ended in this way? “We can only respond by doing what Eli would have wanted, what he dedicated his life to – doing more mitzvot (good deeds) and to keep spreading positive energy. To keep generating light. To keep focusing on goodness and hope, in every interaction every day. Let’s flood the world with goodness. Because as Jews, we know, as difficult as it might seem, that light and good will always win.” A Russian Jewish couple, Boris and Sofia Gurman, were killed in the early stages of the attack. Video footage showed Boris, 69, and Sofia, 61, tackling one of the terrorists, successfully wrestling one gun away from him before being killed by another weapon. Responding to the video footage, relatives of the couple said: “While nothing can lessen the pain of losing Boris and Sofia, we feel an overwhelming sense of pride in their bravery and selflessness. This encapsulates who Boris and Sofia were – people who instinctively and selflessly tried to help others.” Another of those killed, Reuven Morrison, was seen attempting to hurl a brick at the terrorists to try and halt them. His daughter told CBS News: “If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist. There was no other way he would be taken from us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved most.”
Australia remembers: Crowds of mourners and a sea of flowers at a vigil for the victims of the
TRIBUTE AT Finally - arrests WILL be made COMMISSION over intifada chants, police say The Board of Deputies and the Australian High Commission held a menorah lighting at Australia House on Monday to honour the victims of the Bondi Beach attack. The Chanukah ceremony, held on the second night of the festival, followed Sunday’s mass shooting at the public Chanukah gathering in Bondi. Australian authorities have confirmed the attack was terrorism and that it deliberately targeted the Jewish community. Monday’s event was attended by Jewish communal representatives and staff from the Australian High Commission. Remarks were delivered by Australia’s acting high commissioner to the UK Elisabeth Bowes PSM, and senior vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Adrian Cohen. Speaking at the ceremony, Bowes described the attack as “an act of evil, antisemitic terrorism” and said it had deeply affected Australians at home and abroad.
Police in London and Manchester have been ordered to take a more “assertive” approach and “take action” over chants such as “globalise the intifada” being chanted at pro-Palestine demos. A joint statement from the Met commissioner and chief constable of Greater Manchester Police confirmed the move in the aftermath of the Bondi and Heaton Park attacks. It has long been called for by communal groups including the Board of Deputies and the Community Security Trust. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also signalled his belief “globalise the intifada” is an antisemitic call for attacks on Jews globally. Starmer told Jewish News: “We know what that chant is, and that’s [why] we want to look at the powers we’ve got for public order.” The new guidance states “after two terror attacks targeting Jews” and due to “increased fear” in the
Masked protesters at a pro-Palestine demo in London
community there is a need for an “enhanced response” amid the consistent intimidation of pro-Palestine demonstrations. Those using chants at future protests or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action, the police statement said. ”We will act decisively and make
arrests. Frontline officers will be briefed on this enhanced approach. We will also use powers under the Public Order Act, including conditions around London synagogues during services.” The Board of Deputies responded: “We strongly welcome this necessary intervention ... we
have long warned that people chanting slogans like ‘Globalise the Intifada’ are inciting violence, and we have been making the case for robust enforcement in relation to this slogan with government. ” The Jewish Leadership Council said the move was “a step in the right direction”, adding: “We call on other police forces to take a similar approach and call on the Crown Prosecution Service to back them to ensure offenders receive the full weight of the law.” The Community Security Trust (CST) said the announcement was “not a moment too soon” as it welcomed the “more robust response to violent language on protests”. A spokesperson said: “This is a necessary and important first step to turning back this tide of violent incitement and we hope that police across the country, and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), will follow suit.”
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18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Bondi Beach attack / News
‘time for talking is over’
Bondi Beach attack which saw 15 people killed
During the attack, Ahmed el Ahmed, a 43-year old father of two, managed to wrestle a gun away from one of the terrorists, sustaining wounds in the process. A crowdfunder started on Sunday to raise money for the injured hero has raised more than $2 million, with millions more also raised to help the families of those killed and injured. Sydney residents also responded overwhelmingly to urgent calls from local hospitals to help to replenish blood supplies, with reports of people queuing for up to seven hours to donate. The New South Wales Board of Deputies described how Australian Jews were in “a state of shock and grief following the tragic events at Bondi Beach. This attack has deeply impacted our entire community in so many ways.” The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said: “We express our heartfelt sorrow and condolences to the families of those who were coldly and calculatedly slain in a terrorist attack of unfathomable evil, and our wishes for a complete and speedy recovery to those injured.” While ECAJ said it “acknowledge[d] the strong words of the prime minister and premier of NSW and their commitment to eradicate the evil of antisemitism in Australia”, it made it clear “the time for talking is over”. It added: “We need decisive leadership and action now to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism from Australia’s public life, for which the Jewish community has long been advocating. Government’s first duty is to keep its citizens safe.” The Australian Jewish Association went further, with its CEO, Robert Gregory, accusing the country’s government, and Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, of
Family members of British-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger at his funeral
having “blood on their hands” and adding: “What happened is a tragedy, but it should not be viewed as a surprise.” Gregory accused the Albanese government of having “ignored countless warnings, including thousands marching on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and at the Sydney Opera
House, calling to ‘globalise the Intifada’: “This ... is what that wish looks like.” In its statement in response to the attack, Chabad International cited Rabbi Schlanger, who had recently said that “in the face of darkness, the way forward is to be more Jewish, act more Jewish and appear more Jewish.”
HEALTH MINISTER HECKLED A government minister was heckled as she pledged solidarity with Jewish people at a memorial event and Chanukah celebration for those killed at Bondi Beach. Health minister Ashley Dalton told the largely Jewish crowd in London’s Parliament Square attending the gathering, where a menorah candle
was lit, that she was “standing with the Jewish people”. She said: “We are here to stand together against the hatred and vitriol from wherever it comes. The government does not and will not tolerate antisemitism.” She was interrupted by calls of “stop the marches and “we
want action, not words” from some people in the crowd. She was able to continue speaking after a Chabad rabbi stepped on to the stage and called for the listeners to be “ambassadors of light” and allow her to speak. Dalton continued by saying: “What happened on the first day of Chanukah – the vitriol, the violence, the terrorism – we do not accept.”
‘ZIOS’ STUDENT CHARGED A student videoed during a pro-Palestinian demonstration chanting a call to “put the Zios in the ground” has been charged by the police with stirring up racial hatred. Samuel Williams was arrested on 15 October after footage of a speech he had given the previous Saturday at an anti-Israel rally in London appeared on social media.
The video showed Williams appearing to praise what he described as “an upright, a steadfast and a noble resistance in Palestine and in Gaza to look to, to be inspired by.” In the video, Williams went on to say that he doesn’t want “to yap for too long”. However, he then referred to “a chant we’ve been workshopping in Oxford that maybe
you guys want to join in, it goes ‘Gaza, Gaza, make us proud, put the Zios in the ground’.” A statement from the Met Police confirmed action had been taken on 16 December, saying: “Detectives investigating allegations of antisemitic chanting at a demonstration in central London in October have charged Samuel Williams, 20, of Oxford.”
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Jewish News 18 December 2025
News / Football celebrates / Starmer’s pledge
Chief hails FA as ‘English shamash’ at Wembley by Justin Cohen justin@jewishnews.co.uk
The Chief Rabbi has likened the Football Association to the shamash on the menorah as he gave a blessing for England’s success at next summer’s World Cup. Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis lit the first candle and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-lead of Progressive Judaism the rest as Maoz Tzur was enthusiastically recited by more than 300 guests in the main bowl of Wembley Stadium for the first time. Earlier, Sir Ephraim expressed solidarity with the injured in the Bondi Beach attack and expressed admiration for the way Australian Jews kept their heads high and continued to mark Chanukah in the wake of the atrocity. “Together with Jewish people around the world, nothing will deter us from coming out in great numbers as we do this evening and people are doing at other events right now,” he told an audience including Lord John Mann, the government’s antisemitism adviser and a member of the FA’s taskforce on tackling the scourge. Praising the UK’s football governing body, he said: “The shamash is the candle we use to kindle the other candles. It shares its light with the other candles. The FA is one of the great English shamashes because it takes its light and shares it into the lives of tens of thousands of women and men and girls and boys. “Not just enhancing the way they play football but allowing them to grow and develop as responsible citizens with so many phenomenal initiatives. The FA is sharing the light of health and fitness, decency and responsibility. “Then on each successive evening of Chanukah we light additional candles. We are never complacent, we always want to strive to achieve
The Chief Rabbi and Rabbi Josh Levy light the Chanukah menorah at the Wembley ceremony; inset: Olivia Wayne hosting the event
more. That represents our hunger for success on the football pitch. We’ve achieved so much but we really want our England team – every one of them – to be right at the top of world football. “God bless England in the coming year for great success.” The event, partnered by Maccabi GB and Jewish News and sponsored by Dangoor Education and Mishcon de Reya, was hosted by broadcaster Olivia Wayne as part of the FA’s Faith in Football series, which also sees celebrations of Christmas, Ramadan and Vaisaki. Included were Chanukah video greetings from FA chair Debbie Hewitt and England stars including Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford, Ollie Watkins and Lioness Chloe Kelly, who told guests: “Go easy on those doughnuts.” FA head of diversity and inclusion strategic programmes Dal Singh Darroch, who heads a
team that organises the series, expressed “deep condolences” over the Manchester and Sydney attacks and said: “No one should have to feel unsafe because of who they are. No one should have to carry this burden alone. “In football, we talk often about being a team and right now that means supporting our Jewish teammates, colleagues and friends. The football family stands with you firmly and visibly against antisemitism, violence and fear. We know many of you are deeply anxious about the rise of antisemitism. So are we.” Darroch was presented with a Jewish Sports Award by Maccabi GB CEO Ashley Lerner and Lord Mann. Blind player Sam Meisel, part of the IBSA
men’s Nations Cup-winning England team, said: “It’s what you dream of as a kid to represent your country. I’ve had the most amazing opportunities this year ... a Euros to look forward to in August and potentially a World Cup with the sixa-side team.” He also hailed the pivotal impact of the opportunities given to him in sport by Maccabi GB and by taking part in the Maccabiah. Representing grassroots football was Dalia Bermant from HMH under-16s and Hendon Utd club secretary Russell Corin. Jewish staff from marketing, corporate affairs and Wembley Experiences Andy Gerlis, Elliott Caamtor, Rebecca Basalel and Matt Lang discussed working at the FA, including creating a kippah with the FA logo. Austin Lipman, first team captain at London Lions, Britain’s highestranking team with Jewish heritage, appeared alongside club board director Lee Glassar, who spoke about being the only team that requires extra security and insisted antisemitism they face “shouldn’t be normalised by anyone. No one should accept it.” Urging more people to support the club, he said: “They all play for the badge which has a Star of David on it. Please come to watch – it would mean the world to them.” Lerner said it sometimes felt thousands of years after the Maccabees “not enough has changed”, adding: “At Maccabi, we use the power of sport to build resilience. We will also continue to hold everyone to account to ensure it’s safe for Jewish people to play sport as it is for everyone else in this country.”
STARMER: I WILL FIGHT ISLAMIST EXTREMISM Keir Starmer this week vowed to confront the threat posed to the UK’s Jewish community by Islamist extremism, writes Lee Harpin. The prime minister, accompanied by Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, was speaking during a Chanukah commemoration at Downing Street alongside his wife Victoria and members of her family, including her 97-year-old Jewish father. Starmer followed up later saying Jewish people must not be “cowed by terror”, as he vowed to root out antisemitism in the UK. At Tuesday’s event, staged in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack, the prime minister lit the shamash candle before Rabbi Mirvis delivered the blessings. Rabbi Mirvis attended the event immediately before flying to Sydney to be with the community there, including his own relatives, still reeling after Sunday’s massacre. “Our festival of light commenced
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during Tuesday’s reception at Downing Street to celebrate Chanukah
this year under the clouds of the darkness of the horrific terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney,” Rabbi Mirvis told attendees. He noted Chanukah is a festival rooted in the land of Israel, and while
last year’s took place during the horrific conflict in Gaza, this year had seen a ceasefire. “We continue to pray for peace and security “for everybody in the region”, he added. Starmer acknowledged the
ongoing struggle “with the extreme right and the extreme left” regarding antisemitism in politics and quoted the late Rabbi Lord Sacks, who had said society as a whole was in danger when antisemitism was allowed to run rampant. In light of the attacks at Heaton Park and in Sydney, Starmer condemned “Islamist ideologies” and their “hatred towards Jews”. He added: “We’ve got to defeat all ideologies of hatred against Jews, and that includes Islamist ideologies ... a political ideology distinct from Islam and abhorrent to the vast majority of Muslims. But we have to address that ideology. We have to recognise what it is and call it out for what it is. “We’ve got to end the passive acceptance of poisonous words, because we know where poisonous words lead ... the instilling of fear.” Starmer emphasised the importance of unity, saying: “We come together to celebrate Chanukah, but
we also come to stand together in solidarity, because I know the whole community has been shaken once again, not for the first time, by the abhorrent attack on Bondi Beach. “We need to stand together in defence of the Jewish way of life, of the liberties and freedoms that make our British way of life.” Speaking later to Jewish News, Starmer reiterated his commitment to tackling Islamist extremism while emphasising the vast majority of British Muslims “abhor” such acts. “We need to reach out to Muslims, we have to make that bridge,” he said. Starmer rejected the suggestion that the recognition earlier this year by the governments of the UK and Australia of a Palestinian state had emboldened Islamist terrorists, insisting: “I don’t think that’s right. “We have to do everything we can to bring about lasting peace in the Middle East, and the only way to do that is through a two-state solution.”
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18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Green Party / Maccabi match / Vince tweet / News
Brent Greens failed Labour Four of the five Brent councillors welcomed into the Greens by leader Zack Polanski as part of a “surge” towards his party had already been deselected by Labour ahead of next year’s local elections, writes Lee Harpin. The five councillors, who backed the controversial campaign to twin the north-west London borough with the West Bank city of Nablus, were presented by Polanski at a press conference on Monday However, Jewish News understands four of the five – former cabinet member Harbi Farah, former whip Iman Ahmadi-Moghaddam, Tony Ethapemi and Erica Gbajumo – had failed Labour’s process for selecting candidates. The process had been toughened in response to widespread concerns
about the national performance of the Labour group. Central to the controversy were repeated complaints about Brent Labour’s relationship with the borough’s Jewish community and the Nablus twinning proposal. A source told Jewish News: “There were serious concerns about Brent Labour Group, which were raised at the highest level of the party. “Keir Starmer was also aware of the concerns raised by local Jewish groups in relation to the conduct of the council. “In a selection process designed to improve the standard of councillors, four of the five councillors who have been announced as defectors had already been deselected.” At his press conference, Polanski
celebrated the defections, declaring that his party’s “surge has just widened in London”. Only councillor Mary Mitchell is understood to have been approved by Labour to stand in next May’s elections, before her decision to defect. Local Labour sources said they were relieved by the departure of the councillors, who were closely associated with the divisive Nablus twinning plan which was backed by the local Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt has already faced criticism for failing to listen to the concerns of the communal organisations. Several local Jewish groups have led opposition to the twinning plan, citing rising antisemitism and worries about its impact on Brent’s diverse population.
Brent Greens welcome five councillors from Labour
Welcoming all five councillors to the Greens, Polanski claimed their move “mirrors what we’re hearing across the country” and was a forerunner of what was to come, adding: “What we’re witnessing in Brent mir-
rors what we’re hearing on doorsteps and in polls nationwide. In the elections in May, it is the Greens who will be taking the fight to Reform, and we show our intent today in Brent. This is just the start.”
MPs: No confidence in WMP VINCE DENIES RACISM IN X POST More than 100 MPs and members of the Lords have written to the police watchdog demanding action over West Midlands Police’s (WMP) decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the club’s Europa League match against Aston Villa in Birmingham last month. The parliamentarians expressed con-
cern that WMP’s decision was made “to appease local political pressure from anti-Israel MPs, councillors and activists who had launched a campaign to get the match cancelled”. The letter added: “We do not have confidence in WMP’s ability to investigate its own actions”.
Dale Vince
Labour donor Dale Vince has told Jewish News a post he made on social media in response to the Sydney terror attack was “not intended to excuse or legitimise terrorism, or any form of racism”. He drew widespread criticism with a post on X in the aftermath of the massacre. He wrote: “Commenting on the shootings
in Australia, Netanyahu said, antisemitism spreads when leaders stay silent. Nothing to do with Israel committing Genocide in Palestine, then. Netanyahu wants antisemitism to be a thing; it validates him – he acts to make it so.” Politicians including Kemi Badenoch called on the PM to condemn Vince.
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Jewish News 18 December 2025
News / ChanukahLIVE! / Bondi ‘hero’ / Security concerns
Community shines in Trafalgar Square Thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday evening as ChanukahLIVE! returned to central London, writes Annabel Sinclair. The event, organised by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) with community organisations
across London, transformed the capital’s most famous public space into a vibrant celebration of Jewish life, faith and resilience. The event marked the third night of Chanukah with live music, communal singing and the lighting of a
Celebration: Part of the huge crowd that gathered for ChanukahLIVE!
giant menorah, seven metres wide and eight metres high, in the heart of the capital. Described by organisers as the tallest in Europe, it was illuminated using high-intensity searchlights projected into the night sky above the square as volunteers helped things along by distributing around 3,000 doughnuts throughout the evening. The programme was hosted by comedian Rachel Creeger and opened by JLC chair Keith Black. Performers included DJ Dan Kraines, vocalist Avi Kraus, chazan Pini Brown, Erran Barron Cohen and rapper JBC. One of the evening’s centrepieces was a mass children’s choir formed by pupils from four Jewish primary schools – Clore Tikva, Mathilda Marks-Kennedy, Etz Chaim and Wolfson Hillel – who joined forces to perform Maoz Tzur and We Know a Man, conducted by Stephen Melzack.
Performers take to the stage for ChanukahLIVE! in Trafalgar Square
Speaking to the crowd, Black referenced recent antisemitic violence affecting Jewish communities worldwide, including the deadly attack at Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur and the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia. “At a time when our community is facing real challenges, as we are still reeling from the murderous attack against Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, and as we mourn the victims of the horrific antisemitic terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Australia, events like ChanukahLIVE! remind us that we will always choose joy over fear,” he said.
“For thousands of years, the story of Chanukah, the Maccabees’ miraculous victory over the Seleucid Empire and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, has taught us that light will always overcome darkness. “That message has never been more important.” The annual Trafalgar Square celebration has become a flagship public expression of Jewish identity in the UK, drawing families, community leaders and passers-by alike to mark the festival openly and proudly in one of London’s most visible and renowned civic spaces.
Bondi Beach parents hail ‘hero of Australia’ The parents of a fruit shop owner who tackled one of the Bondi Beach terrorists have described him as a “hero of Australia”. Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, is seen fighting a gunman in a video shared on social media shortly after the attack during the Chanukah celebration on Sunday. Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed, told ABC Australia his son has an “impulse to
protect people”, having previously served with the police. He told the broadcaster: “My son is a hero. “When he saw people laying on the ground, and the blood everywhere, immediately his conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on one of the terrorists and to rid him of his weapon. I feel pride and honour, because my son is a hero of Australia.” Ahmed is in hospital but in
“good spirits”, his family said. Meanwhile, Naveed Akram, the surviving Bondi Beach shooting suspect has been charged with 59 offences – including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist attack. A spokesman for the New South Wales courts service said that a hearing had taken place on Wednesday, where no application for bail was made. Akram remains under armed
guard in hospital. Along with the murders, he is accused of 40 counts of causing wounding/grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder, discharging a firearm intending to cause grievous bodily harm, a public display of a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol and placing an explosive in/near a building with the intent to cause harm.
Ahmed al-Ahmed being treated for injuries
UNDERSTANDING HOW JEWS VIEW SECURITY DANIEL SUGARMAN
DEPUTY EDITOR, JEWISH NEWS
Last weekend, a family member of mine sang in a Christmas concert in a local Methodist church. The event had been advertised several months in advance, and my relatives and I went along, walked through the open doors and that was it – we were in. I recently went to my local synagogue. There were three security guards outside: one an employee of the shul, two members of the congregation whose turn on the rota it was to stand watch that day. They let me through the outer gate. Then a different member of the synagogue, watching the CCTV camera based just inside the syna-
gogue, opened the inner door for me. I’m not sure whether nonJewish people entirely understand the high levels of security that so many Jewish communities operate with as a matter of course. Perhaps one reason for that lack of understanding is we don’t speak about it a great deal. It’s just there – a part of life. Many synagogues have this sort of set-up, which is why the terror attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester didn’t cost more lives. Synagogues around the country have been trained by the Community Security Trust for exactly this sort of attack. As many people said in October, it was not seen as a case of if such an attack would happen, but when. Many Jewish events – in the UK and elsewhere – are organised as follows. You sign up, but aren’t told where the event will take place until 24 hours before. The reason is simple,
but simultaneously horrifying. It is to provide as little time as possible for would-be terrorists to scope out the venue and plan an attack. Of course, not all such events are pre-planned in such a fashion. Some events are held annually at the same place, meaning the location is impossible to hide anyway. The Chanukah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach fits into the latter category – there was no hiding it, nor would the organisers have wanted it to be hidden, nor should they ever have been forced to have been faced with any such decision. “Come celebrate the light of Chanukah together with the community,” the advert for the event said. “Bring your friends, bring the family. Let’s fill Bondi with joy and light.” And for a little while, Bondi was filled with joy and light. And then it was filled with terror and darkness. There is yet another aspect of
Jewish life that I think sometimes is very difficult for others to understand. We are horrendously accustomed to acknowledging the sites of our murdered dead, something we can experience during a visit to any of 100 different cities scattered around mainland Europe. Now 21st-century antisemitic murders are laying down new mourning sites in Western cities. New attacks, new deaths, new pain – and growing anger. Anger at those who incite violence yet plead ignorance at the inevitable consequences of that incitement. Anger at a succession of facile governments in western countries, who seem to prefer to focus on crafting condolence messages rather than acting to prevent the need for such messages in the first place. Anger at those who have the nerve to try to tell us we shouldn’t be angry. When something like this hap-
pens, I’m often reminded of comments made in 2016 by a (nonJewish) Scottish comedienne, who had been invited to JW3, the key Jewish community centre in north London, to review a stand-up night. On her podcast, she subsequently said: “Talk about over-reaction. It’s an art centre built like a fucking fortress. It’s all ‘dear oh dear, we’re terrible victims and everything and everybody’s having a go at us’. “When was the last time a Jew was shot in London? They’re banging on like ‘we live in fear, we live in fear’, for fuck’s sake.” I’ve often wondered whether that’s an attitude she still holds, and how many others feel that way. And I hope, if you’re read this far and you’re not Jewish, you might understand a little more about why we care so much about security. Because for us it’s not if. It’s when.
18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Jewish News 18 December 2025
News / Murder trial / Limmud
Wife on trial for murdering her Jewish husband
A Prestwich grandmother has gone on trial accused of murdering her husband of almost three decades, in a case that has unsettled one of north Manchester’s largest Jewish communities, writes Annabel Sinclair. According to the Manchester Evening News, Daryl Berman, 71, denies murdering 84-year-old David Berman, who died from a single stab wound at the couple’s Butterstile Lane home in March. Mr Berman, well known in the local Jewish community, had been married to the defendant for 27 years and was described by rela-
tives as having a warm and devoted relationship with his wife. Opening the prosecution case, Michael Brady KC alleged Mrs Berman stabbed her husband deliberately “for a reason known only to her”, before calling 999 and suggesting he must have fallen on to a small kitchen knife. Family members later told police her “matter-of-fact and emotionless” behaviour in the days following his death felt out of keeping with expected grief. Jurors heard police initially treated the incident as accidental.
Mrs Berman called 999 at 1.55pm on 13 March, saying her husband had slipped carrying lunch trays. Paramedics found him on the kitchen floor and he was pronounced dead minutes later. After concerns at the hospital, pathologist Dr Phillip Lumb found the fatal wound had “typical features of a homicide” and “very unlikely” to be caused by a fall. A second pathologist instructed by the coroner agreed. Mr Berman also had a finger wound which prosecutors say may indicate an attempt to defend himself.
In her police interview, Mrs Berman insisted the stabbing was accidental, saying she heard her husband stumble before finding him face down in a pool of blood. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” the court heard she told officers. “I screamed ‘David, you can’t go like this.’” Mrs Berman was arrested on suspicion of murder on 18 March after the post-mortem findings. Brady told the jury they must decide whether Mr Berman’s death was a “tragic accident” or the result of a deliberate stabbing.
David Berman
KFAR AZA HOSTAGES TO SPEAK AT LIMMUD
The Siegels earlier this year
Limmud Festival has announced that Keith and Aviva Siegel, the Kfar Aza couple kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October 2023, will speak at this year’s event as a highprofile addition to the 2025 programme. Aviva spent 51 days in Gaza before her release, while Keith remained in captivity for 484 days. Since returning, both have been prominent voices calling for the release of remaining hostages.
Their session is likely to draw significant crowds at the annual learning event, which runs from 26-31 December at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Limmud said it was “honoured” to welcome the couple, with full programming details to be announced closer to the event. Other newly-confirmed presenters include Angela Mattar, a Palestinian activist with the Jewish-
Arab movement Standing Together; BBC journalist Tim Franks, whose latest book explores identity and belonging, and Rabbi Aviva Richman, a leading scholar of Talmud, Halachah and gender. Now in its 45th year, Limmud remains one of the most anticipated fixtures of the British Jewish calendar, drawing thousands for five days of learning, debate, culture and community.
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18 December 2025 Jewish News
9
Sports / Limmud Festival / News
Arsenal kicks off global deal with Israeli tech firm Israeli-founded HR tech giant Deel has signed a landmark multi-year partnership with Arsenal, becoming the Premier League club’s Official HR platform partner, writes Candice Krieger. The agreement marks Deel’s first major venture into world sport and reflects the company’s ambition to grow its global presence. Deel branding will appear across the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal’s digital channels throughout the Premier League, Women’s Super League, FA Cup and League Cup. Deel was founded in 2019 by Israeli entrepreneur Alex Bouaziz, together with Shuo Wang, and has since grown into one of the world’s dominant HR and payroll platforms. Today the company is valued at $17.3bn and serves more than 37,000 companies and 1.5m workers globally. Bouaziz said: “Arsenal is one of the most iconic clubs in world sport, followed by millions and competing at the highest level, which makes this partnership a natural fit with our own
The Israeli-founded HR tech giant signed a multi-year partnership
global ambition. “We are proud to welcome Arsenal as a Deel customer, and support the club’s HR operations. This partnership is a milestone for us and places Deel at the heart of global football, connecting our platform with supporters and professionals in every corner of the world.”
While the club has only confirmed the HR partnership, according to reports on social media, a separate agreement is in place for Deel to take over Arsenal’s shirt-sleeve sponsorship from the 2026-27 season, replacing Visit Rwanda once that deal expires. Commenting on the partnership,
Arsenal chief commercial officer Juliet Slot said: “We’re delighted to welcome Deel to our Arsenal family – a brilliant and innovative team who will bring so much to what we’re trying to achieve at our club. “Their global platform matches the scale of our ambition and operations, and their investment will continue to power our growth. We’re looking forward to many successful seasons together.” For Israel’s tech community, Deel’s partnership with one of the world’s most watched football clubs underscores the increasing global impact of Israeli-founded companies. It also strengthens Deel’s presence in the UK as the company accelerates its European expansion. With its AI-powered all-in-one HR platform supporting teams in more than 150 countries, Deel’s move into elite sport reflects a strategic push to align with globally recognised brands, solidifying its status as one of the most valuable private tech companies to emerge from Israel.
LIMMUD TO QUESTION FITNESS OF BOARD
A Limmud Festival session examining whether the Board of Deputies of British Jews is “fit for purpose” will feature Deputies who were sanctioned after signing an open letter critical of the Israeli government earlier this year. The session, scheduled for Sunday, 28 December at 4pm, lists Philip Goldenberg, Harriett Goldenberg and Robert Stone as panellists. All three have been subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Deputies. Jewish News understands from the Board that after discussions with Limmud, the blurb is being changed “to more accurately reflect the position of the people on the panel”. Limmud has introduced a Festival At Home option, allowing audiences to watch a selection of sessions live online. A household ticket costs £35 and provides access to 11 livestreamed sessions 28-30 December.
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Harassment / Farage / Terror trial / News
Woman admits racial abuse of kosher diners A woman has pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment after an incident outside Reuben’s kosher restaurant in central London, a court has heard, writes Richard Ferrer. Mary Clarke, 32, admitted the offence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday in connection with a confrontation outside the popular kosher eatery on Baker Street in July. The court was told that Clarke approached diners seated outside the restaurant and began aggressively accosting them. Footage of the incident, which
later circulated on social media, showed her shouting at customers, throwing food in their direction and hurling a mobile phone onto the pavement. Witnesses said Clarke questioned diners about the restaurant and their identity before the abuse escalated. The court heard the language she used during the incident, including: “Is this a Jewish cafe?”, “Free Palestine”, “I’m the only one saving babies”, “You Jews are killing us”, and “This is my country; I’m Irish”. Clarke has been charged with
Mary Clarke pleaded guilty
three further offences in relation to the same incident, for which
she has not yet entered pleas. These include racially aggravated assault by beating, racially aggravated criminal damage relating to broken plates and glasses and racially aggravated threatening and abusive words or behaviour. She was granted bail with conditions, including that she must not return to Reuben’s restaurant. Clarke is due to be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 January.
TEENS HEAD TO TRIAL Two teenagers have appeared in court this week accused of targeting a mosque and a Jewish cemetery in Cardiff. Rhys Edwards and Talan Gethin Vincent, both 18, appeared by videolink during a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey. They are charged with the preparation of acts of terrorism between 1 October and 16 November. They “researched and visited attack locations and made arrangements to obtain firearms”, the charge says. The court was given an indication that they intend to plead not guilty. A three-week trial at Bristol Crown Court is set to take place from 1 February 2027. They are next to appear in custody for a pre-trial hearing at the Old Bailey on 27 March. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told them “counsel has indicated that both of you deny any acts of terrorism” and said they should “co-operate with your lawyers to prepare your case for trial”.
DULWICH COLLEGE PANS FARAGE’S ‘RACISM’
Dulwich College, London
A master at Dulwich College has reportedly called allegations of racist behaviour by Nigel Farage when he was a pupil at the top private school “profoundly distressing”. Robert Milne wrote that “such behaviour is wholly incompatible
with the values the college holds, in a letter published by Sky News. “What we can unequivocally state is that the behaviours described are entirely at odds with the Dulwich College of today,” the letter reads. The remarks appear in a letter to
Jean-Pierre Lihou, a former Dulwich pupil who has publicly accused the Reform UK leader of antisemitic and racist behaviour when they were at school together. More than 30 people have accused Nigel Farage of tormenting class-
HOMES DESTROYED. FREEZING AND AFRAID.
mates with racist and antisemitic abuse back when he was a pupil of London’s Dulwich College. Farage said he was surprised by the master’s “uninformed comments”, while Reform UK called the allegations a “witch hunt”.
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Special Report / Hebrew University
The university learning to live through trauma
As Israel exhales after the ceasefire, life on campus slowly begins to return to something resembling normality, writes Annabel Sinclair Mount Scopus campus
Jerusalem this December feels different: not peaceful exactly, but less sharp, less suspended. The October ceasefire has brought a strange combination of relief and heaviness – families reunited, others grieving, thousands trying to understand what recovery looks like. On The Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus, the shift is especially visible. Students linger longer on the steps. Pathways between buildings are no longer defined by urgency. Slowly, almost cautiously, the campus is remembering how to feel like a university again. Yet beneath that lies two years of strain that reshaped the institution. Wartime mobilisation, displacement, loss and political turbulence pressed into every part of university life – students, faculty, global partnerships, its emotional centre of gravity. Despite this, the institution refused to let its identity slip. The pressures were enormous. Hebrew University has one of Israel’s most diverse campuses – nearly a fifth of students are Arab. This strength became a delicate responsibility during war. Tensions rose, anxieties sharpened, and when thousands of reservists were called up, normal academic rhythms disappeared. By the time the academic year began – months late, after waves of mobilisation – staff had undergone training on managing fraught classrooms where grief, fear and political disagreement sat side by side. “There was quite a lot of training for the teachers ... to ensure there will be a respectful environment” said International Marketing Division director Naama Oryan. Despite the fears, she says,
“thankfully, it was quite calm. Things went pretty well”. Much of that stability rested on diversity infrastructure embedded long before. Communication on campus runs in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Support teams are visible and accessible. Dialogue is encouraged, not managed away. As International Office head Jane Turner put it: “We practise diversity … we bring people into dialogue … we’re very open about it.” During the war, she said, this approach became an anchor rather than an aspiration. The international student community, often seen as most vulnerable, reported unexpectedly strong feelings of safety. Oryan pointed to rising satisfaction survey scores, crediting “a very professional, engaged team … pastoral care 24/7,” in-dorm counsellors and transparent emergency communications. The university’s global networks also came under severe strain. Exchange agreements, including with leading UK universities, were
Students at The Hebrew University
paused or cut. “Agreements are closing down on us,” said dean of students Zohar Kampf. “Not accepting students … leaving us in the lurch.” The trend increased after the first year of war, as BDS-aligned pressure spread among student and faculty bodies abroad. Incoming president Prof Tamir Sheafer understands the challenge, saying “the problem of BDS and academic boycotting has not changed since the signing of the ceasefire”. Economic consequences have already been felt: reduced access to cross-border grants, shrinking consortium participation and instability in long-standing partnerships. For a research institution, this is a structural issue. Sheafer noted that when consortiums collapse “so does our budget”. The university responded with increased fundraising efforts and a strategy to diversify global collaborations. “UCLA … is now talking to us about strengthening our cooperation,” he said. “Even a university like
Harvard … is strengthening academic ties with us.” Interest from India and other Asian partners has grown. Despite the turbulence, the university continues to push forward academically. It launched a fully English-taught undergraduate degree – a major structural shift many universities would hesitate to attempt even in quiet years. Asked if the timing was intentional or naïve, Turner laughed gently: “Are we crazy enough to start this programme during the war? Yes, yes we are.” It opened with 25 students and nearly doubled applications the next year. Sheafer meanwhile has set out ambitious academic priorities, shaped directly by the past two years. “Continue to be excellent in terms of research,” he said. “This has always been and always will be the main focus.” But this is no longer enough. The university, he argues, must respond to the country’s greatest challenges – beginning with a profound shortage of medical professionals and the need to modernise how medicine is taught. “This is a huge project … to introduce a revolution into how medicine is taught, by including simulation rooms, AI, robotics.” The aim is to increase the number of doctors trained, but also to overhaul outdated medical education models. Advances pioneered in the new medical school will be applied to other faculties, reshaping the entire research-to-practice pipeline. To bridge the “valley of death” between academic research and commercial application, Sheafer plans a new unit for academic-industry relations, and a dedicated fund to accelerate promising research. Investors, he noted, often arrive too late in the process. “No one provides funds for
good academic ideas … to develop them to a point investors will be willing to invest.” Closing that gap, he believes, is essential. But no academic plan can overlook the human cost of the past two years. More than 8,000 of the university’s students served during the war. Many carry unresolved trauma. “We will have to continue to provide support”, Sheafer says. “These problems last for a long time”. He has also seen tentative signs of recovery. “We see more students in the corridors and in classes … I’m sure this will have a very positive effect on student life.” What gives him hope are the small, daily scenes that never quite disappeared, even at the height of war. “Arabs and Jews … Palestinians from East Jerusalem and a reservist just back from the war, sitting together in the same class and working together,” he said. “Any time I want to be more optimistic about the future … that’s what I focus on.” His closing message for the next generation carries the weight of the past two years: “We must respect everybody who lives here … otherwise, no one will be able to live here.” Coexistence, he insists, is not a theory; it is already being practised. “We have shown it (coexistence) is possible … in our small heaven, which is the The Hebrew University.” Two years after 7 October, the university is not healed, not unchanged and not untouched. But it is still standing on its complexity: diverse, bruised, stubbornly open and unwilling to abandon the mission it had long before the State itself existed. A place where coexistence is tested daily, and where the work of hard and hopeful thinking continues, despite everything.
18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Primal Scream / Charedi protest / News
Band reported to police over swastika at concert The Community Security Trust has reported Primal Scream to the police after the rock band featured a video of swastikas repeatedly shown inside Stars of David during a North London performance, writes Daniel Sugarman. As reported by the Daily Mail, the band, which has been vocally critical of Israel, was playing its song Swastika Eyes at a performance at Camden’s Roundhouse. Behind them, however, a video showed politicians including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, with Stars of David featuring swastikas inside where their eyes would usually be. Other politicians featured included US president Donald Trump, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Argentine president Javier Milei. A CST spokesperson said the organisation was "appalled by the grossly antisemitic image". "Entwining a Star of David with
The video featured swastikas inside Stars of David
a swastika implies that Jews are Nazis and risks encouraging hatred of Jews," CST said. "There needs to be an urgent investigation by the venue and the promoter about how this happened and we will be reporting to the police.’ A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Nazi swastika represents the
ideology that inspired people to industrially slaughter six million innocent Jewish men, women and children ... to visually combine that with the Star of David – the preeminent symbol of Judaism – is absolutely sickening." The CAA statement added the group would be writing to the Roundhouse and the CAA legal
UK Charedim protest Israeli conscription More than 2,000 members of Stamford Hill’s strictly-Orthodox community have staged a protest outside the Israeli embassy in London to oppose forced conscription of Charedi Jews into the Israeli army, writes Lee Harpin. Organisers described the demonstration as a “spontaneous, on-the-ground Stamford Hill reaction” to recent reports from Israel of Orthodox Jews being arrested and imprisoned for refusing to serve in the IDF. Protesters cited religious grounds for their refusal and said they stood “in solidarity” with those “trapped alone with police and the army and the courts and the jails”. There were speeches in Yiddish to the allmale crowd and banners reading Stop Forced Draft Into The Israeli Army: Release The Conscientious Objectors, Stop Terrorizing Religious Jews! and Don’t Hold Our Kids As Hostages. While the demonstration highlighted the plight of Charedi conscientious objectors in Israel, leaflets distributed by stewards carried openly anti-Zionist messages. One said: “The Zionists should not force Orthodox Jews to join an anti-religious army to fight wars that are against their religion.” Another stated: “The Zionist state has waged a direct assault on authentic Jewish life, with its most egregious action being the forced conscription of young Charedi men into the Israeli military,” adding: “The Zionist movement, which seized control of the land, falsely claims to speak for Jewish people, but in truth, its policies undermine the very foundation of Jewish tradition and Torah values.” Rabbi B. Berger of the local Satmar com-
team was examining the footage to consider further steps. A spokesperson for The Roundhouse said the venue was “appalled that antisemitic imagery was displayed”, saying it was "used entirely without our knowledge". The venue added: “We deeply regret that these highly offensive images were presented on our stage and unequivocally apologise to anyone who attended the gig and to the wider Jewish community." A subsequent statement from Primal Scream said the film was "a piece of art" which "clearly draws from history to question where the actions of current world governments sit in that context. "It is meant to provoke debate, not hate." The Trentham Live festival in Stoke-on-Trent has since cancelled the band's upcoming performance, saying that the graphics used by the band in their video "did not align with our values".
CHANUKAH IS MOST POPULAR JEWISH FESTIVAL Nearly nine in ten British Jews celebrated Chanukah in 2024, making it the most widely observed festival on the UK Jewish calendar, according to new research from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR). The paper, Celebrating the Festival of Lights, analyses responses from more than 4,800 adults who took part in the JPR’s 2025 Jews in Uncertain Times survey. It finds that 89 percent of British Jews lit Chanukah candles at least once last year – whether at home or elsewhere – a higher share than those who took part in a Passover seder (84 percent) or observed Rosh Hashanah rituals (74 percent) in previous years. The data shows Chanukah’s reach extends far beyond regular shul-goers. While only 31 percent of non-practising Jews say they celebrate Chanukah every year, 68 percent reported lighting candles in 2024. Younger Jews and those living in larger households are also more likely to celebrate, but the festival’s appeal is strong across almost every demographic. JPR executive director Dr Jonathan Boyd said the findings highlight Chanukah’s unique ability to draw in Jews of all backgrounds. “Chanukah seems to hold the power to engage Jews of all levels of community involvement. While affiliated Jews are most likely to celebrate Chanukah, the holiday’s parallels with Christmas appear to help draw in even the least communally-involved Jews."
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Charedi protesters at the embassy
munity, one of the protest organisers, told Jewish News he rejected claims the demonstration insulted Israelis who have lost family members or fought against Hamas in Gaza. “We cannot participate if the Torah and our rabbis tell us we’re not allowed to participate. We are not allowed to participate in the wars," he said. "We can’t fight with Hamas, with other countries – we haven’t got that authority.” Asked about the anti-Zionist messaging, Rabbi Berger replied: “There is the traditional Orthodox community that has only got the Torah way.” As for the protesters’ message to the Israeli government and embassy officials, Rabbi Berger said: “They should know that world Orthodox Jewry stands firmly behind the Israeli Orthodox community, and all of us are one big family.” He emphasised the demonstration united all Stamford Hill’s religious sects for a common cause: “We are doing our best to help our brothers in Israel who are suffering.”
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News / Holocaust exhibit/ Charity boost
Museum relaunches major kinder exhibit Leo Stein is a 10-year-old Jewish boy living in Berlin in 1938, writes Michelle Rosenberg. He is growing increasingly aware that something is terribly wrong, that it affects him acutely, and it is something he is powerless to change. He sees the Kristallnacht pogrom unfold, and finally his parents make the heartbreaking choice to send him away – to England, as part of the kindertransport – not knowing whether they will ever see him again. Visitors to the National Holocaust Museum in Nottinghamshire have been able to follow “Leo’s” experiences since 2008, as part of The Journey, an immersive story-based exhibition about the Nazi persecution of the Jews – the only one of its kind in the UK. “Leo” himself is a composite character, based on the testimonies of children who survived the Holocaust, found refuge in Britain and who have shared their stories and belongings with the Museum since its opening in 1995. Almost two decades on, however, the exhibition has now been renovated and enlarged, as part of the its £2m upgrade as part of as part of a £5m site wide renovation during its thirtieth anniversary year, with funding led by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Claims
The UK museum is the only one of its kind
Conference and the Pears Foundation. The Journey now contains new interactive features, as well as new historical and contemporary refugee content. As before, the immersive exhibit takes visitors through different sets, with each room containing sensors which, when triggered, activate the display of excerpts from Leo’s diary, which is both seen and heard. We follow Leo’s journey from happy childhood to persecution and isolation, experiencing the intense fear through an immersive Kristallnacht set, with his parent’s tailor’s shop
smashed, daubed with a blood-red Star of David. Later we are transported back in time via a kindertransport train carriage, with reverberating seats. Visitors also experience walking into a family bedroom the morning after it has been vandalised during Kristallnacht, through broken furniture and a video installation of pillow feathers flying, and a new crawl-through hiding space, illuminating lives that had to remain hidden from view, including from prying, increasingly hostile neighbours. New elements include a powerful ourminute introductory film about refugeeism, narrated by Dame Maureen Lipman, projected onto a dramatic display of suitcases of refugees who came to England. The total number of authentic artefacts and period objects in the exhibition now numbers more than 300 since the renovation, while the number of survivors whose content features has increased to 39, with 99 different clips of personal testimony. It also contains an expanded street scene during the 1938 November Pogrom, with a burning Synagogue projection and a chanting mob soundtrack.
Chai raises £2.7million Chai Cancer Care’s “For All to ‘C’ Campaign” raised £2.7m towards its £4.1m annual costs, supported by a weekend of community events and a 36-hour matched funding effort. This year’s cam- Chai fundraising event paign launched on Thursday with 15,000 newly designed ‘Bags for Chai’, including a mini version that flooded kosher supermarkets, restaurants and shops. Thousands of children in primary schools across the UK took part in Friday’s traditional ‘Mad Hair Day’ to champion Chai’s work. Weekend events included Street Lane Bakery in Leeds selling special purple Chaithemed doughnuts, Chai’s Young Professionals enjoying a challah bake at Brixton nightclub Ministry of Sound, a Swinging Sixties evening, 5k fun run, bingo afternoon in Glasgow, and poker night in Manchester. Chai Chairman Louise Hager, said: “As we receive no statutory funding, every single donation makes a real difference and ensures that Chai can continue to be there for each person who needs to turn to us.” Chai Cancer Care does not charge for any of its services.
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Learning from the Righteous and The Association of Jewish Refugees present
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JERUSALEM
A Holocaust Memorial Day concert marking the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trial, and the 65th anniversary of The Eichmann Trial, using the words of eyewitnesses whose evidence gave voice to the victims. Narrated by BBC correspondent Tim Franks and students from The German School of London and the Jewish Community Secondary School. Music by Ensemble 360.
To book, contact the box office on 020 7935 2141
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JWA conference / Chanukah / News
Big names set for JWA empowerment event Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA) is planning a one-day empowerment conference, Thrive, with prominent voices from politics, media, health, finance and business to support and strengthen Jewish women across the community, writes Annabel Sinclair. The conference, on 18 January, is being delivered in partnership with Jewish News and will aim to inform, inspire and equip women with practical tools through expert-led talks, panel discussions and interactive workshops. JWA trustee Deborah Joseph, one of the event’s hosts, said the day was designed to combine "empowerment with purpose". “Thrive is about bringing women together, sparking meaningful conversations and providing the tools and knowledge that help women take real agency in their lives – while shining a light on those who need our support the most,” she said.
JWA chief executive Sam Clifford, left, with Rachel Riley and Lucy Summerfield, chair of the Young Committee
JWA chief executive Sam Clifford said the conference reflects the charity’s broader mission. “At Jewish Women’s Aid, we are committed to creating a community in which every woman has the chance to thrive in safety and dignity,” she said. “That’s why we are so proud to be hosting Thrive – building confi-
dence, connection and the tools to truly flourish, empowering every woman to step into her future with courage and possibility.” The programme features a high-profile line-up including entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow, mental health campaigner Baroness Luciana Berger, broadcaster and author Rachel Riley, Sheer-
Luxe online magazine editor-inchief Charlotte Collins and leading experts from the worlds of health, finance and technology. Sessions will explore financial confidence at different life stages, women’s health and mental wellbeing – from fertility to menopause – and how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence can help to reduce everyday pressures and mental load. The conference takes place against the backdrop of rising demand for JWA’s services – the charity reports it has supported more than 825 Jewish women this year, providing emotional and practical support including advocacy, counselling, financial guidance and signposting. Tickets for Thrive are now sold out, with a waiting list open. All attendees will receive a £100 beauty goody bag, with raffle prizes including luxury stays and professional styling experiences.
Chanukka
CHANUKAH AD FIRST FOR THE UK COMMUNITY More than 30 Jewish charities, community organisations and media names have come together for a first-of-its-kind festive project: a two-and-a-half minute cinematic Chanukah short, Brighter Together – The Mascot Massive Charity mascot stars Chanukah Film. The film brings some of the community’s best-known charities to the screen alongside cameo appearances from communal groups and media outlets, including Jewish News. Conceived, written and directed by Adam Selwyn of CC Comms, the project is designed as the Jewish community’s answer to blockbuster Christmas adverts. “We all know our community has been facing some particularly dark moments, so we wanted to create something that brings joy, warmth and a real sense of togetherness that people might want to share,” said Selwyn. “This film is a love letter to our amazing charities and community – a reminder that we’re brighter together ... and it’s about time we acquired our own John Lewis-style seasonal advert."
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Opinion
The strange silence on Farage’s antisemitism
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
antisemitism”, that they will be at their side. Yet those bodies are conspicuously not there for Peter Ettedgui nor any of his fellow ex-pupils. They stand apart, mute, while he endures an all-too-familiar fate – a Jew traduced in the public square, accused of lying about his own suffering to advance some hidden purpose. Those Holocaust survivors are with him, but the Board and the others – they have nothing to say. Communal officials insist they would be loudly condemning Farage if antisemitism played any role in his or his party’s current politics – but, they say, it does not. Again, that is easily contested. It was as a fully adult politician that Farage warned LBC listeners in 2017 about the might of the American Jewish “lobby”; that he spoke darkly of “globalists”, George Soros and Goldman Sachs; and appeared as a guest at least six times on a show hosted by a far-right US pastor who would later describe the impeachment of Donald Trump as a “Jew coup”. A more truthful explanation for the
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Jewish organisations’ silence comes in private conversations. In those, communal figures will admit that they believe the accusations against Farage are true, but that they have made a pragmatic calculation. “He’s the coming man and right now he’s not hostile to us,” was how one senior official put it to me. They don’t want to make an enemy of a politician who, polls suggest, is heading to Downing Street. Besides, they fear that if antisemitism becomes the stick with which Farage is beaten, a good portion of his supporters will run towards that rather than away from it: they will adopt antisemitic postures as a gesture of defiance. And so the decision has been made to “keep our heads down and hope it blows over”. That is an Anglo-Jewish strategy with a long and unhappy history. Our communal elders tried it back in the 1930s, when Oswald Mosley was on the march. Of course, the situations are different: Mosley was overtly hostile to Jews, while Farage seems, for now, to have other minorities in his sights. But it amounts to backing away from the crocodile, hoping he’ll eat you last. And it comes at a high price. It requires our leading organisations to abandon the victims of antisemitism. It opens them to the accusation that they are, as Daniel Sugarman argued on these pages, selective in their condemnation of antisemitism: unequivocal when it comes from the left, hesitant when it comes from the right. And it leaves them in the unprincipled and undignified position of a crouch: head down, waiting for the storm to pass. Instead we should be standing tall and saying in a strong, clear voice that any man who cannot tell the truth about his own past, and who shows no contrition even as the evidence of vile hatred mounts up, is unworthy of Downing Street – and no friend of ours.
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s that the sound of silence you’re hearing? I’m not talking about the Simon and Garfunkel classic, but rather the noise emanating from the official Jewish community in studied non-reaction to the long line of people – now numbering more than 30 – who have accused Nigel Farage of tormenting classmates with racist and antisemitic abuse back when he was a pupil at London’s Dulwich College. Plenty of Jews have spoken out, shocked by the accounts published over several weeks by the Guardian of the young Farage sidling up to a Jewish boy – who grew up to be Bafta-winning director Peter Ettedgui – and growling the words “Hitler was right” or “To the gas chambers” or “Gas them” – or simply making the long, sustained sound of hissing gas. Most recently a group of Holocaust survivors, among them the cellist Anita LaskerWallfisch, a surviving member of the women’s orchestra of Auschwitz, wrote to Farage, urging him to answer the accusations – which have now been corroborated several times over – with “honesty, reflection and commitment to truth”. But from the official community – from the Board of Deputies, from the Jewish Leadership Council, from the Holocaust Educational Trust – there has been not a word. Ask some of those involved to explain their silence and they’ll tell you that these allegations relate to events many decades ago and that no adult should be judged by their behaviour as a child. You might counter that this conduct – witnessed by former teachers as well as pupils – is, in fact, said to have continued throughout Farage’s teenage years, including when he was a sixth former aged 18. But put that to one side. For this is not
solely a matter of the past. On the contrary, this episode relates directly to the present. That much is clear in the letter from Lasker-Wallfisch and her fellow survivors. What concerns them is Farage’s response now, in 2025. He has not said that antisemitism, of the kind alleged by these dozens of accusers, would – had it happened – be unconscionable. He has not even issued a stock, politician answer about there being no place for such prejudice in modern Britain. Instead, he strongly implied that such behaviour would – had it happened – amount to “banter in a playground”. The survivors’ letter is at pains to set him straight on that point. “Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere.” A similar problem arises from the way Reform UK has spoken about Farage’s accusers. The party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that their testimony was “made-up twaddle” and that Ettedgui himself was a liar. Ettedgui has written candidly, and affectingly, of how the antisemitic bullying he received at school has stayed with him to this day, how it remains “intensely ingrained, as was the emotional impact – degrading, humiliating.” Now, all these years on, he is branded a liar. This is where the silence of our communal organisations becomes all the more baffling and all the harder to defend. Cast your mind back to the turbulent period when Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party. We were often compelled to point out that to accuse Jews of lying about their experience of antisemitism – and to suggest they were doing so in pursuit of some undisclosed political agenda – was itself an antisemitic trope. Yet Tice says Farage’s accusers have a “political axe to grind”. What’s more, Jewish organisations always insist that they “stand with the victims of
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Opinion
Washington DC, Bondi, Manchester... where next? SIR MICK DAVIS
FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE, CONSERVATIVE PARTY
J
ews had gathered on Bondi Beach to celebrate the first night of Chanukah, the festival of light and freedom. Uniquely among Jewish festivals, Chanukah is celebrated in public. Generations of families came to light candles on Sydney’s famous coastline and say: we belong here too. And then two gunmen opened fire – 15 people murdered, 40 wounded. Victims include London-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Alex Kleytman, who survived the Holocaust but 80 years later was murdered for being a Jew. This was not “senseless violence” The very phrase stupefies us into passivity, unable to name, identify and deal with the specific hatred behind it. This was a calculated attack on Jews celebrating a festival that commemorates our refusal to be erased from public, our determina-
tion to spread light in the face of darkness and maintain freedom despite tyranny. The bitter truth, however, is that in 2025, Jews in the diaspora are no longer free, but shackled by antisemitism. Our children learn lessons no child should: where the exits are, what to do if the glass breaks. We worship behind bulletproof doors and bombproof windows after passing through security guards, not because we want to but because we must. We are sick of explaining this, having our concerns dismissed or minimised and having to go through the same tiresome process after each and every outrage. It cannot be only our problem. If a society’s Jews aren’t free, neither is that society. But we refuse to give in to the relentless campaign to intimidate and erase us. The message is constant: you live here on sufferance. You may be tolerated, but only if you are invisible. When Jews venture out publicly, we are targeted by a hostility that too many have sought to normalise. We have warned that where Jew-hatred is
normalised in this way, anti-Jewish violence is inevitable, as witness the so-called “proPalestine” marches week after week, which have been recruiting grounds for those who carry out violence and those who justify it. Hate-filled demonstrations outside synagogues precede bullets through their doors. Calls for murder outside opera houses precede murders on beaches. Washington DC, Colorado, Manchester, Bondi. Where next? We need more than perfunctory condemnation when the drumbeat of hate predictably leads to bloodshed. We need action. Democracies must allow protest but the language and actions of protests matter. Protests that undermine the rights of others to exist safely are not legitimate dissent but calls for violence. Who will stand up instead of standing by? The authorities and wider public must make clear that it is the antisemites – not the Jews – who will be erased from public spaces. Call it what it is: antisemitism. Not “community tension”. Not “imported conflict”. Jew-hatred, adapted for modern
tastes, laundered through modern slogans, and unleashed on Jews. Saying that “death to Zionists” is not just violent language but antisemitic. Recognise that saying death to the “Zionist entity” means death to the Jews – the outcomes are indistinguishable. Draw red lines and enforce them. If a march, a concert or public event calls for violence, glorifies Jew-killing terrorist groups, uses antisemitic imagery or vilifies a minority community, it is not a protest for democratic rights but a threat to them. Stop indulging and making excuses for Jew-hate because confronting it is inconvenient. Stop the backdoor boycott of “safety concerns” whether at comedy venues or European football matches. If Jews aren’t safe, neither are you. Choose solidarity that costs something. The lights of Chanukah are not lights of naïveté, but of resolve. Our societies must now decide whether we mean it when we say “never again”. History will record who stood up and who stood by.
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Opinion
When a beach paradise became a murder scene ALEX BRUMMER CITY EDITOR, THE DAILY MAIL
M
y wife’s first call early on Sunday morning was to her sister Claire in Sydney who lives with her family in a community close to Bondi. They were all safe, thank goodness, after the terror attack. But a friend of my nephew Jonathan was among the dead. Like thousands of Jews in Australia and across the globe, he was celebrating the traditional public lighting of the Chanukah lights, one of the most uplifting and joyous of festivals in the Jewish calendar. Tragically, in his case, it was on Bondi Beach. A moment of glad family celebration which had been greatly looked forward to by the children of the community had been desecrated by gunmen splattering the beaches with bodies and blood as the sun went down. My sister-in-law Claire, her husband Cecil, a former Israeli paratrooper whose parents
are Holocaust survivors, plus their children and grandchildren were themselves evacuated from nearby Coogee Beach, just along the coast from where the devastation was unfolding. As the scale of the attack became known, all they could do was retreat home and watch the television hoping for snippets of information. With the death toll mounting, calls, texts and WhatsApps from family friends and acquaintances across the world flooded in. Australia may seem far away from the death and destruction of 7 October and the Gaza war. But Jews, synagogues, community centres there – and Jewish peoples going about their daily business in the centre and suburbs of Sydney – have experienced two years of mendacious abuse and hostility. Our family there tells the story of being chased down in their own modern beach community by a thug covered in swastikas threatening harm. He had picked on the wrong person – my brother-in-law, who stood firm and reasoned with the potential assailant, who walked off. In Britain, we tend to think of Bondi Beach and the surrounding areas as havens
for beach lovers and a surfing paradise. We see pictures on the TV news during the Christmas season of Aussies frolicking in the surf and partying over barbecues. Many of us look on in envy as we cluster around the fires and brave the sleet and rain for a brisk walk. But Sydney also has a wonderfully diverse Jewish community. Some, like my brotherin-law, are exiles from apartheid-era South Africa. Others, like Claire, were drawn to Australia by fabulous opportunities – in her case, as a seasoned teacher, to set up a Jewish nursery school in Brisbane, Queensland, before later migrating to Sydney. How could such a magical, tranquil, partying beach nearby at Bondi have become such a scene of outrageous racial violence? Bondi, we soon discovered, was not just a town of ice-cream parlours and bottle shops but a place where members of the Jewish community live, pray, shop and eat. We enjoyed heritage Ashkenazi restaurants where the distinctive flavours and comfort food of eastern Europe – chicken soup, salt beef and spiced stuffed carp – had travelled all the way to New South Wales.
Nearby, there were Mediterranean-style Israeli restaurants serving hummus, shakshuka and kebabs. On Sunday evening, on the other side of the world in north London, we gathered with my daughter, her husband, grandchildren and wider family to kindle the first Chanukah light. As I write, the scent of the latkes, the spiced potato and onion cakes fried in oil, wafts up the stairs. It should be a joyous thing to commemorate the victory of the Jewish Macabee heroes over their Greek oppressors and the rededication of the Temple more than 2,000 years ago. But it will be hard to banish thoughts of unprovoked killings in Sydney and the traumas suffered once again of the families living nearby. Attacks on innocent Jews and bystanders, as they pray and celebrate, have become all too common, from Manchester to Bondi. They are an abomination which, shamefully, still goes unchallenged by our political leaders as our community suffers again and still again.
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Opinion
From Anatevka to Australia, killers always find an excuse JOSH GLANCY
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, THE SUNDAY TIMES
T
here’s an old folk song I listen to sometimes, when I hear news of an atrocity committed against the Jewish people. Der Milner’s Trern, the Miller’s Tears, is a Yiddish lament about the expulsion of Jews from their homes in Tsarist Russia. The song was made famous again by the Coen Brothers’ 2009 film A Serious Man, where it haunts the woebegotten protagonist like an old country dybbuk. (They used Sidor Berlasky’s recording, though I actually prefer the slightly richer version recorded by Zupfgeigenhansel, a 1970s German folk duo.) “I have heard tell,” the miller sings, “they are going to drive me out of the village and away from the mill.” “Where will I live?” the old goat wonders. “Who will take care of me? The wheels turn, the years pass, and along with them, the Jew passes on.” On Sunday morning, we heard tell once more. They are trying to drive us out of our villages. As news of the massacre in Sydney dawned, it felt like a miniature 7 October. Texts flew in from Jewish friends. “I wonder if this is what it was like when the pogroms happened,” observed one. “News filters through
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AS NEWS OF THE ATTACK DAWNED, IT FELT LIKE A MINIATURE 7 OCTOBER from the next oblast or whatever. Damn, they got Anatevka too.” They got Bondi too. It seems the age of the Jew hunt has returned. Angry, violent, homicidal men stalk our festivals and our holy places. They want us to feel powerless and afraid. And however much we express proud defiance, in truth, whatever our apparent privilege, we do feel powerless and afraid in these moments.
Mourners at a memorial at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, scene of the attack on the first day of Chanukah
These cultural scripts are buried deep in the Jewish mind. The enemy changes – sadistic Inquisitors, feral Cossacks, merciless Nazis, now jihadist Muslims – but the result is the same. In every generation they rise up to destroy us. And yet every generation’s story is also different. Amid the swirl of atavistic emotions and half-buried neurosis provoked by these events, we must continue to analyse our own circumstances as rationally as possible. Perhaps most importantly, let’s be very clear about what is causing this violence and who bears responsibility for it. In recent days, there has been considerable frustration towards broadcasters asking a particular question of Jewish contributors speaking about the massacre in Australia. It goes something like this: yes we are all appalled by events in Bondi and condemn them unequivocally, but did Israel go too far? Is this a kind of twisted payback for the deaths of tens of thousands of Gazans? Might Bibi Netanyahu and his brutal war strategy bear some of the blame here? To which my answer is in some sense yes, but also really, really not. Yes, it is true that but for the war in Gaza, particularly its duration and
lethality, these Jew hunts wouldn’t be taking place, at least not in their current form, at this present moment. It would be odd to suggest otherwise. Antisemitism always spikes around the world when there is war between Israel and the Palestinians and certainly this past two years has been no different. Israel has made new enemies and activated old ones and Jews around the world are becoming collateral in this fight, whether they want to or not. But this question is also reductive and historically illiterate. First off, it denies moral agency to the perpetrators, men apparently unable to distinguish between a group of Australian Jewish families gathering to celebrate Chanukah and their anger at events in Gaza. This moral agency is often denied to the perpetrators of 7 October and so many other terror attacks on civilians in Israel. There is something profoundly wrong with men who set out to deliberately massacre as many innocents as possible and it is ultimately within the souls of these men that the reasons for such slaughter can be found. Second, this suggestion inverts the chain of causation. Israel’s war was launched in response to a jihadi massacre on 7 October. Yes, there
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TEXTS FROM FRIENDS: ‘I WONDER IF THIS IS WHAT IT WAS LIKE DURING THE POGROMS’ is a huge amount of context to that massacre, but none that remotely justifies it. Even if you think Israel’s prosecution of the war is utterly reprehensible, it is not reasonable to pin this one on them. The rather warped logic here appears to be: 1) start a war by enacting a brutal massacre of Israeli civilians and take hundreds hostage 2) be furious that Israel visits immense pain upon you in response to that massacre. And so then 3) encourage your fellow travellers to brutally massacre some more civilians, even if they are in Australia, as long as they are also Jews. Third, it forgets the miller’s tears. Murderous antisemitism was not invented on Sunday and it wasn’t invented on 7 October. It is an ancient cultural force and has also been an integral part of
the Palestinian and wider Arab response to the Zionist project from the beginning. It was there in Hebron in 1929 and in Baghdad in 1941. Violently dismantling the Jewish state was the defining mission of the armies that fought Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973. In character and ambition these impulses differ somewhat to the passions of Bohdan Khmelnytsky or the Black Hundreds or whoever hounded Sidor Berlasky’s poor cereal grater out of Uman or Berdychiv. But they are also the metastasisation of old antisemitic impulses, some western European, some Russian, some native to the Middle East. They are new, but evolved from something very old. This fanatic ideology of annihilation was triggered by Israel’s costly and successful attempt to will itself into existence and flourishes to this day. Hamas are the torch-bearers of this tradition and it is written into their charter. The Akrams in Sydney, father and son, were working firmly within it. The Jews and then Israel have committed their own sins on their journey, many of them recent. But this inflamed and homicidal response to the very idea of Israel, then to its reality, has been there all along. And that is the root cause of Bondi, not Bibi Netanyahu’s war.
18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Community / Scene & Be Seen AND DAUGHTERS 1 MUMS ZUMBA FOR CAMP SIMCHA
More than 150 women and girls from the Jewish community gathered for a vibrant Mothers & Daughters Zumba Party hosted by MOUVE by Dancing with Louise to raise funds for Camp Simcha, the charity supporting families living with serious childhood illness. The evening was filled with energetic dance routines, glitter tattoos, hair-braiding and a warm, welcoming atmosphere that reflected the unity and strength of the community. Mothers, daughters (some as young as two) and grandmothers danced together. One participant said: “Seeing the toddlers in sparkly tutus and performing dancers was so nostalgic – they were all so good.”
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The very first Jewish Action for Mental Health (JAMH) quiz night welcomed more than 80 people to Manchester Maccabi for an evening of fun, laughter and community spirit. Guests enjoyed a mix of quiz questions and games hosted by double act Steven Pearlman and Jonny Wineberg. Congratulations went to the winning team of Malcolm and Hilary Granat, Clive and Suzy Brown, Kenneth and Sarah Jason, Michael and Laura Greenberg, Alan and Rebecca Goodman and Abigail Caplan. The funds raised will go towards providing continued mental health treatment across the whole of the Greater Manchester Jewish community.
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BARNET SHUL KEEPS THE FAITH ON SOLIDARITY
Barnet Synagogue in north London hosted Labour MP Dan Tomlinson and Joy Johnston, the special adviser on faith, communities and civil society to the prime minister for a timely discussion on issues facing the Jewish community. Leaders from across the borough including Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lister, came together for a frank and constructive conversation regarding the need for solidarity and support.
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OF LEARNING AT 4DAY IVRIT CONFERENCE
Jewish schools network PaJeS brought together Ivrit teachers from across the UK for a day of professional learning and collaboration, with highlights including a keynote lecture and workshop by renowned Israeli linguist and writer Dr Ruvik Rosenthal. There were also hands-on sessions led by CET – The Centre for Educational Technology, focusing on AI in storytelling, hybrid learning and tools to strengthen confident Ivrit communication in the classroom.
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FUN AT THE 5 CHANUKAH MENORAH FOUNDATION
Emily Ben-Ze’ev from ‘Emily’s Adventures in Wonderland’ visited reception class at the Menorah Foundation school in Edgware for a special celebration of “Chanukah and light”, a day of fun activities including blizzard bubbles, rainbow glasses, shadow patterns, periscope goggles and diffraction glasses. The highlight was the children making shadow puppets to create their own puppet show. There was also a range of authentic shadow puppets from China, with the session concluding with a story projected on to the classroom wall with shadow images.
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Hollywood’s heart breaks Fans and colleagues are grieving for Rob Reiner – the director whose movies shaped generations – and the wife he adored, writes Brigit Grant
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very time someone quotes “I’ll have what she’s having” in a deli, or a teenager discovers Stand By Me and feels the first sting of growing up, or a couple turns again to When Harry Met Sally for comfort, they are stepping into the world Rob Reiner created. A world built on humour, tenderness and a distinctly Jewish way of looking at life. Now Hollywood is grieving the man behind those moments. Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were found murdered in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles on Sunday night, sending shock through an industry that had come to regard him as part of its emotional furniture. Police are treating the case as a double homicide; their son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been taken into custody on suspicion of murder. The investigation is ongoing. Born into a Jewish comedy dynasty, Rob was the son of Carl Reiner, one of the architects of American humour, and Estelle Reiner, a cabaret singer whose single line in When Harry Met Sally would become one of the most famous in film history. The Reiners were not religious, although Rob had a bar mitzvah; but even when he later described
himself as an atheist, he spoke about carrying Jewish values “in the DNA”. Reiner’s directing career remains one of the most astonishing runs in Hollywood and includes such hits as This Is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, Misery and A Few Good Men. Reiner made more than 20 films, the most personal of which was Being Charlie in 2015, a drama co-written with his son Nick that was inspired by Nick’s own struggle with addiction. The film traces the collapse and painful repair of a father-son relationship with an honesty that startled critics who understood how close the material ran to the Reiners’ real lives. This was the only time Rob drew directly from his own family’s fractured story, and in light of this week’s tragedy, the film will now be unbearably difficult to watch. For pure joy, When Harry Met Sally will remain Reiner’s most beloved achievement. The late Nora Ephron often said she wrote
Rob Reiner and his wife Michele shared three children together: Romy, Nick and Jake
Reiner with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, stars of When Harry Met Sally
the screenplay with Reiner as the model for Harry and herself as Sally – two New Yorkers who overthink everything, argue their way to clarity, and slowly find their way to love. Meg Ryan’s now-legendary Katz’s Deli scene was added at her own suggestion; the immortal punchline “I’ll have what she’s having” was Billy Crystal’s idea. It was during the making of the film in 1989 that Reiner met Michele Singer, the photographer who would become his wife. They married later that same year, and remained together for 36 years, raising three children and influencing one another’s work. The film’s ending – originally written with Harry and Sally going their separate ways, only changed because Michele told Rob the story needed hope. Ephron agreed, and the reconciliation audiences now cherish only exists because Michele insisted on it. Before becoming a director, Reiner was known in America as Michael “Meathead” Stivic in All in the Family (the US adaptation of British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, starring Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnet). Reiner as Meathead was the liberal son-in-law constantly sparring with Archie Bunker, and for many Americans that character stuck, although he had many other roles, notably as Jay, Tom Hanks’s best friend in Sleepless in Seattle. Decades later, he appeared as himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David, a close friend with whom he shared the same political views on Trump and comedic tone. That tone began with Rob’s father, Carl, the son of Jewish immigrants, who created The Dick Van Dyke Show and collaborated for more than 50 years with Mel Brooks. Since Carl’s death in June 2020, it is well known that Brooks still grieves for his best friend and social media is flooded with messages of sympathy for the 99-year-old,
Reiner with director Mel Brooks
who shares his affection for his best friend in the current issue of Life magazine. Rob Reiner’s worldview was shaped artistically, politically and personally by his father, a lifelong atheist who stopped believing when he learnt about the Holocaust. But he remained profoundly Jewish in identity; his son often reflected on this contradiction with pride. The younger Reiner believed heavily in personal responsibility to others, saying: “Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself.” This belief echoed through his strident campaigns for better children’s education and marriage equality. Since the news broke, tributes from Jewish Hollywood have poured in. Ben Stiller called him “a giant and a mensch”. Sarah Silverman wrote of his “warmth behind the camera and in life”. Billy Crystal, whose friendship goes back 50 years, said simply: “My heart is shattered.” Many others have expressed grief, describing Reiner as not just a filmmaker but a moral centre, trusted friend and living link to the Jewish comedic tradition that shaped American culture. Tragically that link now feels broken.
28 Jewish News 18 December 2025
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JN LIFE
Tour of the Ton
Simon Walters discovered a lot of Jewish history in a surprising part of town where the community is now growing
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My focus wasn’t on ou may think of Islington as ‘now’ but ‘then’, as I neither here nor there – it’s not pitched up on a in the City, the West End, sunny Sunday or any of the suburbs morning – but it lays claim to some to walk astonishing Jewish history, around the and that history is being borough revealed by the wonderful How Lofting Road shul looked in the 19th century with work of Chabad-Lubavitch grandfather was Chatan Torah in 1953. The Rabbi Mendy and other Islington, led by Rabbi shul closed around 1958, but I didn’t know guests on his Jewish Islington Mendy Korer. Walking Tour. My great-grand- that there was a shul in Poets Road on the Islington’s Jewish story other side of Islington until 1967. father bought 104 Upper Street seemed to come to an end in London is full of contradictions – the more than a hundred years ago, 1967, when its last shul closed, official name of Poets Road shul was Dalston my grandparents and my Dad and there had barely been a Synagogue, but it isn’t in Dalston. Our tour Jewish presence from that date Rabbi Mendy Korer moved there in 1947, and much started at the site of that shul, where Rabbi of my childhood was spent in the until Rabbi Mendy and his wife surrounding area, but I had no idea how vast Mendy read us a letter from the honorary Hadasa set up Chabad in 2011. For the officers to the rabbi, in which instructions – and picturesque – the locale is. past 14 years they have revitalised a commuwere given on the limited length of sermon For many years my family had an assonity which is now growing – by 41 per cent that would be permitted. ciation with the Lofting Road shul and my between the two most recent censuses – with Other gems included the unproven tale events such as their annual menorah lighting, that Benjamin d’Israeli, who is generally which is one of the largest Chanukah celebrathought to have been born in Bloomsbury, tions in Britain and has even featured in may in fact have been born in a doctor’s Conde Nast Traveller magazine. surgery in Upper Street that is the site of Chabad hosts Friday night dinners and Budgens today. Shabbat services, an annual Seder, a Big If you think that Disraeli (as it is Jewish Summer Fete, and so much more, and commonly spelt) was the only Jewish prime in 2021 set up a Jewish community centre. minister born in the area, think again. Clue: September 2025 saw the first dedication of a another country’s PM was born in Islington. Torah scroll in Islington for 100 years with a Rabbi Mendy told us how various names large public parade along Upper Street. embedded in British history have roots in Islington Jews – Gestetner and Reuter lived locally. Talking of well-known Islington names, as we walked past the Estorick Gallery we were told about the Jewish founder’s incredible role in saving 1,500 sefer scrolls from Nazi destruction. Being so close to the City of London, it was inevitable that there would be Islington links to the City. But what I didn’t know is that part of the fabric of Bevis Marks shul, founded in 1701, was moved to Petherton Road in Islington in 1894 and adorns the gateposts of a house there today, more than 130 years later. Islington Chabad’s website includes an Untold Stories section trumpeting many famous (and not so famous) Jews who have lived in the area over the years. My favourite is the fabulously named Lion Lion, a shoe manufacturer who lived in Highbury New Park (affectionately known as Highbury Jew Park in the 19th century because of the preponderance of brethren living there). The Estorick Gallery’s founder saved Torah scrolls
Frontage of Lion Lion’s house
Even today, more than 200 years after Lion was born, the front door of his house is adorned by statues of – you guessed it – two lions. Even Lion Lion can’t match the best name we heard about on the tour: the splendid Luna de Raphael de Hezekiah Moses de Raphael de Eleazar Meldola. At a time of rising tensions for Jews living in the UK, it is inspiring to spend a few hours rediscovering the Jewish heritage of an enclave within our capital and the wonderful contribution made by so many prominent (and not so prominent) Jews. The walking tours are complemented by the Untold Stories project, which includes signage around the borough about the Jewish residents from yesteryear – a way to make today’s Jews of Islington feel welcome and to educate the non-Jews who spot the QR codes on the signs. As Jewish interest in the area swells, I have no doubt that Rabbi Mendy will achieve his ambition of a new permanent shul. It has been almost 60 years in the waiting, but I can’t wait to visit. Since 7 October 2023, attendance at Islington’s Chabad House has more than doubled, helping young Jewish professionals and all-comers feel accepted, safe and truly at home. u The next Jewish Islington Walking Tour is on 11 January. jewishislington.co.uk/untoldstories
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JN LIFE
The accidental author
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Leslie Turnberg, life peer and former president of the Royal College of Physicians, has written a political thriller. By Jenni Frazer
founder of Israel’s pre-state electrical network eslie Turnberg describes himself and Palestine Airways, the forerunner of El Al; on the inside cover of his new book about the Balfour Declaration, and about the as a “retired physician”. That’s Jewish state’s founder and first prime minister, perhaps akin to Tony Blair calling David Ben-Gurion. himself a retired barrister. In other words, he doesn’t The 91-year-old is in fact come new to the writing game. Baron Turnberg of Cheadle and But his latest book, The Accidental not merely a retired physician, Hero, but the former president of the Hero is a serious departure for the baron, heralding his first Royal College of Physicians, venture into fiction and follows created a life peer in 2000 for his the somewhat scary journey of services to medicine. his (non-Jewish) protagonist He is also author of George Templeton numerous books and papers Setting the tone, we meet him on medical and health issues. after someone has apparently His most recent commonsense tried to kill him by pushing him offering in that field is 2024’s in front of a tube train. Patients First: How to Save the “I like writing and I’ve NHS, which sounds like it should thought for some time that be mandatory reading for health The cover of Leslie secretary Wes Streeting. Turnberg’s latest book maybe I should try a novel”, Turnberg explains. Turnberg is also a passionate “So I thought I’d better start, somehow. I Zionist with four grandchildren living in Israel. started writing about a person, because I like He has written in depth about a little-known people – and the plot evolved as I wrote, which early Zionist pioneer, Pinchas Rutenberg, the
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was strange to me. “It was my first shot at fiction, and I suppose it was very much hit and miss.” Templeton, we learn, is an AI and cyber specialist, but for all his smarts has few social skills and at the beginning of the novel has just been thrown out by his wife. Readers are advised to keep tabs on the helpful who’s who in the opening pages, because there is a huge cast of characters, from shadowy British civil servants and staff from GCHQ to an equally intriguing set of Mossad agents. GCHQ is Government Communication Headquarters, which Turnberg says is “a very strange name, since it doesn’t communicate anything – it keeps everything very secret”. The men and women in the twisty spy plot have an unnerving habit of meeting on benches in parks and disappearing very quickly. When not doing that, they are being despatched by mysterious unseen hands through high-rise windows. I wonder if we should be worried about the hidden inclination to violence of this charming medical professional. He’s not altogether satisfied with The Accidental Hero, though. It took him a year to write but he believes he could have done better. Now, he’s well into the writing of his next book: “It is much more interesting to me. I left the fate of George Templeton open at the end of The Accidental Hero – maybe the Israeli embassy or Mossad will want him to work for them. But my new book is different: it’s written in the first person and is the [fictional] life and memories of a serial killer.” This last piece of information is delivered with a huge grin. Turnberg goes on to explain: “He’s 91, like me, and he was brought across from Germany on the Kindertransport.” This is where the similarities end: “The book opens with him being interrogated for a double murder – which he didn’t commit”. His protagonist, Turnberg says, has been knighted and known as Sir Henry Wilson, though his real name is Hyman Weinberg. Wilson/Weinberg first gets into killing people at university, when a contemporary behaves badly to him and is murdered for his pains. But Turnberg says he plans to call this novel A Killing on the Market, Market as after several physical murders, he makes his character a force to be reckoned with on the stock market, ruining people where he can and destroying them through the manipulation of stocks and shares. Turnberg couldn’t be more different (one hopes) from his fictional creations. Softly spoken, with what sounds like a genuine bedside manner, he was born in Manchester, was the first member of his family to go to university and qualified as a doctor in 1957. “I had no background knowledge of what it was like to be a
doctor. In fact, I was going to go into pharmacy, because the local pharmacist was a Jewish fellow and he seemed to be doing quite well. But then a friend of mine in my year at school said he was going to do medicine. And I thought, right, if he can do it, maybe I can.” He was told at the time no Jews were allowed in the main teaching hospitals but he spent his first year after qualification working in a hospital “and I loved it. I thought, well, that was a wise choice…I was very lucky that it worked out. “I stayed in hospital work and I began doing research. And by the time we got to the 1960s, it all opened up for Jews and so I was able to carry on.” Now, he jokes, it’s almost impossible to be a consultant at London’s Royal Free or UCH unless you’re Jewish, so the wheel has turned. He became a professor with a specialist interest in gastroenterology and spent two stints abroad, once in Dallas and a four-month sabbatical in Israel, researching. He was offered the post of dean at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem but turned it down in favour of resuming work with his teams in the UK. Sadly, he and his wife Edna have outlived both their children, Daniel and Helen. Daniel died in a plane crash in 2007 while their daughter Helen, who lived in Israel, died of cancer in 2023. Turnberg set up the Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowships in the name of his son, who was himself a highly talented doctor and researcher. Now the Turnbergs live in London and are members of South Hampstead Synagogue. Turnberg is also a trustee of the Wolfson Foundation, involved in the Labour Friends of Israel, and “speaks about Israel in the House of Lords – “that’s my thing”. Perhaps it’s not too fanciful to suggest that if ever there were an accidental hero, it’s Baron Turnberg of Cheadle. • The Accidental Hero, written and published by Leslie Turnberg, is available on Amazon.
Leslie Turnberg
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Business / Cyber security
candicekrieger@googlemail.com
With Candice Krieger
ISRAELI VC EYES LONDON FOR SPECIALISED AI HUB
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JVP founder Erel Margalit says a transatlantic triangle linking Israel, New York and the City can spur tech in finance, insurance, cyber security and climate risk
rel Margalit, one of Israel’s most influential venture capital investors, is actively exploring the creation of a future centre of excellence in London, as demand for cyber security and microvertical AI in the fields of insurance, fintech and climate pulls more Israeli tech companies towards the City. Micro-vertical, or vertical, AI refers to highly specialised artificial intelligence built for specific industries such as insurance, banking, cyber security or climate risk, rather than general-purpose consumer AI. While many markets remain fixated on generative AI, Margalit, the founder and executive chairman of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), is betting on what he calls micro-vertical and predictive AI inside tightly regulated industries. “The world is talking about generative AI,” he says, “but Israel is very strong in micro-vertical AI –
cyber security, fintech, insurance, enterprise and climate tech.” Margalit says Britain’s position at the crossroads of global finance, regulation and specialised insurance makes London a natural anchor for the next phase of Israeli AI growth. He tells Jewish News: “Alongside New York, London is the financial centre of the world. We built a bridge between Israel and New York. I want to build a similar bridge between Israel, London and Europe.” JVP already operates several AI-driven companies from bases around the City, some close to the Lloyd’s of London insurit’s critical to be close to Lloyd’s.” ance market, but Margalit hopes to Founded more than 30 years Erel Margalit formalise and scale that presence. ago, JVP combines venture capital, “Some of the most sophisticated insurance company-building and later-stage privatepolicies in the world come out of the Lloyd’s equity ownership. It has funded more than market and then go global,” he says. “For me 160 companies and is perhaps best known internationally for backing CyberArk, the Jerusalem-founded cyber security group in which JVP once held a 47 per cent stake and where Margalit served as chairman as it grew into a multi-billion-dollar global player. Margalit sees London as part of a wider three-node strategy. “There’s a big interest in creating this triangle,” he says. “Israel as the hub for technology. New York as the gateway to North America. And London and Europe as the place that validates a big part of the business Bespoke and contract framing and comes up with some of the most sophisticated ideas for the next generation of finance, insurance and AI climate-related projects.” Puzzle & tapestry framing Margalit’s model is attracting direct interest Silk/oil stretching & silk cushioning from UK institutions. “Some of the leading public institutions are visiting New York to Custom mirrors look at the model we created there to see if it All frame repairs undertaken could be relevant for London,” Margalit says. London has become a growing focal point for the JVP portfolio. One of the venture firm’s flagship companies is Earnix, an Israeli-founded unicorn with a major London presence. The company provides AIdriven pricing, rating and underwriting tools to the insurance industry. Earnix first worked with the Lloyd’s market before scaling into the US and internationally. “We started small,” Margalit says. “Today the company is growing at over 25 per cent a year.” Another London-linked Israeli company is ThetaRay, which uses AI to detect money WE ARE NOW THE EXCLUSIVE AGENTS FOR laundering, terror financing and finanARTWORK BY THE RENOWNED ARTIST VICTORIA SHASHA. cial crime for banks across Europe, North SOME ORIGINAL ARTWORKS ON DISPLAY. America, Africa, and South America. “The PLEASE CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. crooks are so much more sophisticated today than they were five years ago,” notes MarLet’s chat framing: galit. “So you need AI and the intelligence to Unit 26 Theydon Rd, London E5 9NA protect against all these threats.” 020 8109 7817 • 07535 666791 ControlUp, which uses AI to manage northlondonframing.com digital work environments for employees working on- and off-premise, also runs a major London hub and is scaling internationally. Nanit, JVP’s baby-monitoring and
infant-sleep analytics company, which was born at the Technion and Cornell Tech, also recently entered the UK market. Margalit says: “Climate risk is emerging as one of the most urgent areas of application. “Climate is not only about alternative energy. It’s also about using data to understand how the world is going to act and to come up with solutions ahead of time, because disasters are happening everywhere. “If you want to understand forest fires or how many hurricanes will hit a coastline or crop failures, you can’t do it with traditional tools,” he continues. “You need predictive AI in the language of the industry.” At the same time, AI is transforming cyber security itself. “We used to deal with people against people. Now it’s machines against machines. The big AI challenge for 2026 and 2027 is how to use AI in a secure fashion.” Margalit says the combination of Israeli engineering and London’s financial industry and regulatory expertise is what makes the UK such a powerful partner. “That’s where Israelis and people from London can really cooperate,” he says. “There is a deep understanding of vertical industries in the UK, in Europe and in Israel, alongside what is happening in the US.” But he insists that ambitions for London must go beyond a conventional venture office. “We don’t just build companies. We build centres of excellence with public-private partnerships behind them,” he says. “That’s how you create something that lasts.” Margalit also frames UK-Israeli technology cooperation as part of a broader economic and geopolitical reset for Israel after two years of war. “I think the high-tech industry is Israel’s way forward out of what happened in the last two years,” he says. “We need to change the discourse from a discourse of war to a discourse of cooperation, technology and innovation.” As he looks ahead to 2026 and beyond, Margalit’s message is clear: the most valuable applications of artificial intelligence will go beyond consumer chatbots, and he believes London could be one of the places where that future is built.
18 December 2025 Jewish News
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Orthodox Judaism
MAKING SENSE OF THE SEDRA In our thought-provoking series, rabbis, rebbetzins and educators relate the week’s parsha to the way we live today RABBI ARIEL ABEL
SOLICITOR AND ARMY CHAPLAIN
Chanukah, resilience and the dreams that sustain us From Joseph’s Egypt to Sydney’s shores, the Jewish story endures through light, leadership and renewal. This year, Chanukah arrives at a moment of deep pain even as we harbour and celebrate enduring hope. The Bondi attack has shaken Jews across the world. Once again, a Jewish community gathered in faith was fatally targeted by hatred. Yet again, we respond not only with grief but are also called to respond with resilience. Chanukah is not merely a festival of remembrance but a declaration of renewal: the very word means rededication. It indicates Jewish survival
has never depended on numbers but on conviction, continuity and courage. A group of Judean priests resisted the mighty and disciplined oppressing and occupying army of Alexander the Great’s military heirs and won the struggle. The miracle of their victory was divine intervention wedded to human resolve and the refusal to surrender a hallowed identity in the face of oppression. This message is echoed powerfully in the reading this Shabbat of Miketz. In this Torah portion, Pharaoh dreams of abundance and catastrophe. It is the biblical Joseph who transforms vision into action,
preparing a nation to survive crisis. Such is the hallmark of true leadership. Joseph cared for an entire nation in stocking their storehouses ahead of an oncoming famine. He dedicated his life to Egypt – the same country and society that bought him as a slave and imprisoned him for a sinful offence he did not commit. Jewish history throughout has featured resistance to planned extinction. Jewish people today have faced renewed and repeated assaults yet respond with visibility and strength. The one major difference is that in 2000 years of enduring persecutions, there is a country called Israel that can defend its citizens against terror around the globe. Chanukah teaches light does not negotiate with darkness – it dispels it. One flame is enough to begin. Billions
Chanukah is a festival of light that demands we address ignorance
are ignorant of what Jews and Torah stand for. Chanukah as a festival of light demands we address ignorance; wilful and accidental ignorance of history, alike; that we educate on the Inquisition and the Holocaust; that we train advocates in the non-Jewish world to go out and increase knowledge and understanding – the first step towards a more peaceful world. As we gather to light the menorah this year, may we renew our courage, unity and faith.
May the memory of those whose lives were taken be a blessing, and their light never extinguished through our own acts of resilience through Jewish continuity and persistence in our culture and traditions. As the Haggadah declares: “In every generation they rise up to destroy us, but the Almighty will deliver us yet from their cruel grasp.” Let us remember the dead and injured with each extra candle we light this week of Chanukah.
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Progressive Judaism
LEAP OF FAITH BY RABBI MIRIAM BERGER
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF WELLSPRING UK
The meaning of the menorah Last Chanukah, sculptor Gerry Judah invited me to his studio to see an incredible piece he had just finished – a six-foot menorah depicting bombed-out buildings and shattered homes. I didn’t see it as a political piece, mainly because I could have argued it had an incredibly right-wing, pro-Israel, strength-and-survival message, just the same as one could say it had a very strong left-wing message in support of Gaza and was a memorial to the destruction. What I saw was something far deeper than any kind of political statement. I saw an entire conversation in front of me. The sculpture transforms the sacred menorah into a brutal architectural elegy to survival, loss and memory. It invites us to confront the questions Chanukah invites.
Our own chanukiot can be the prompts to begin grappling with the debates of the day. I have placed my chanukiah on my window sill. Before 7 October 2023, I had never questioned this action but have since maintained this practice as an act of defiance. How do I feel “proclaiming the miracle” of our survival? Did the terrifyingly tragic, monstrous event at Heaton Park or Sunday’s horrific attack in Sydney symbolise our reason to fear outward expressions of our Judaism, or do we have to give them no further credence? If these events allow us to be fearful and change our behaviours, the terrorists were even more successful in their deadly mission. The chanukiah is a symbol of our defiant survival and a statement to the future, not just to the past. Yet do we worry how it is interpreted by the outside world, what it means to our non-Jewish neighbour? Should our religious expressions need to come with an explanation to others or does that become apologetics in the face of antisemitism? The origin of Chanukah is an interesting
Resilience symbol: Gerry Judah’s menorah
mix of marking an historical moment – that of oppression, war and revival - and a response to assimilation. What does that combination look like in the glare of our candles this year? I hope
A stimulating series where our progressive rabbis consider Judaism in the face of 21stcentury issues it makes us stand up more proudly as Jews with our unique practices and rituals. These include wearing a Magen David, seeking out community and giving a joyous, sugary/oily taste to our distinctive practice, which in turn gives our families feel-good memories at a time when Jewish life is filled with such strong emotions. Perhaps part of the conversation this year should be how we untangle the politics and the outside world and allow our Jewish practice to remain unsullied and full of warmth and hope for the year ahead. This year as you share the lights of the chanukiah in your window and enjoy your latkes and doughnuts and shower gifts on your family during the week of Chanukah, see this as an act of affirming identity, of rejoicing in who you are and play your part in keeping another generation of Jews safe in our difference. Judah’s Menorah offers no consolation. It casts no light. Its rubble is not debris – it is testimony. Its brokenness is not despair – it is defiance. May your chanukiot be another defiant statement of survival.
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STONEMASON
Single items to complete homes MARYLEBONE ANTIQUES - 8 CHURCH STREET NW8 8ED
07866 614 744 (ANYTIME) 0207 723 7415 (SHOP) closed Sunday & Monday
The specialist masons in creating bespoke Granite and Marble Memorials for all Cemeteries.
STUART SHUSTER - e-mail - info@maryleboneantiques.co.uk
Clayhall Showroom 14 Claybury Broadway Ilford. IG5 0LQ T: 0208 551 6866
MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT US BEFORE SELLING
Edgware Showroom 41 Manor Park Crescent Edgware. HA8 7LY T: 0208 381 1525
Email : info@garygreenmemorials.co.uk
www.garygreenmemorials.co.uk
For a free quote please phone Dave on 07913405315 any time.
LEGACY
Gary Green ad 84 x 40mm JM Group v2.indd 1
ARE YOU BEREAVED? Confidential Bereavement Counselling for adults and children individually. Support Groups available. We offer in person, online and telephone counselling. Contact Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service in confidence. 0208 951 3881 enquiries@jbcs.org.uk | www.jbcs.org.uk
Need Cash Fast?
Sell your gold and coins today!
GOLD and SILVER PRICES AT RECORD HIGH!!! Receive the best prices for your unwanted gold today! Call Jonathan 020 8446 8538
- £35.94
14ct per gram - £56.07 18ct
We clear houses, flats, sheds, garages etc. No job too big or too small! Rubbish cleared as part of a full clearance. We have a waste licence. We buy items including furniture bric a brac.
Legacy Classified advert v1.qxp_Legacy 16/06/2021 10:57 Page 1
CHARITY & WELFARE
per gram
Friendly Family Company established for 30 years
01277 352560
House clearances
9ct
Dave & Eve House Clearance
per gram - £71.89
21ct per gram - £83.87 22ct per gram - £87.80 24ct per gram - £95.84
HELP US CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY WITH A GIFT IN YOUR WILL. Call our Legacy Team on 020 8922 2840 for more information or email legacyteam@jcare.org Charity Reg No. 802559
Leaving Your Legacy At Beit Halochem UK we help to rebuild the lives of the 67,400 brave IDF veterans and victims of terror daily www.bhuk.org | info@bhuk.org | 020 8458 2455 | Charity Number 1146950
Can’t choose the diamond ring you are looking for? Come and see us in our North London showroom for the best engagement ring selection.
We wish to purchase any Diamond and Gold Jewellery
We can create the design of your dreams ...and at a wholesale price! We can supply any certificated GIA, IGI, HRD natural or lab-created diamonds of your choice.
Platinum 950 per gram - £40.14
Personal and Confidential Customer Service Price Offered Instantly Same Day Payment
Silver 925 per gram - £0.97 Half Sovereigns - £351.19 Full Sovereigns - £702.38
A free valuation from our in house gemmologist and gold experts on anything you may wish to sell. If you are thinking of selling, we purchase all diamonds in any shape, size, clarity or colour.
Krugerrands - £2980.94 We also purchase sterling silver candlesticks and any other other sterling tableware
www.howcashforgold.co.uk
18/03/2019 12:50:51
@jewellerycave
WE PAY MORE than all our competitors. Try us, and you will not be disappointed!
Jewellery Cave Ltd, 48b Hendon Lane London N3 1TT • T: 020 8446 8538 • E: jonathan@jewellerycave.co.uk • www.jewellerycave.co.uk Open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm (anytime) Saturday 9am to 1pm (by appointment)
36 Jewish News 18 December 2025
www.jewishnews.co.uk
JMG
Home is where your is
24 works of Art: Private 3 story villas built in a meticulously designed complex in the best location in Modiin, Israel. Each villa has a spacious basement and lush green backyards. Immediate occupancy! Underground Parking
Scan to learn more
Private Gardens
A high-quality specification
Starting from 7,690,000 NIS, with special benefits for olim.
Initiated and developed by Galnor, building Israel for over 40 years