Th e p ch a o p s er e n
Anything but Streets of anger normal Why I’m outside your
FREE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 20
July
2023
•
2
Av
5783
•
Issue
No.1324
•
@JewishNewsUK
Ashley Blaker opens up about his atypical family P27
house, ambassador
P21
Mayor forks out to save kosher school lunches Emergency funds pledged after catering firms withdraw services, leaving pupils without hot meals London mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to dish out an additional £5m to help Jewish schools provide free hot kosher meals for primary pupils, writes Jenni Frazer. As recently reported by Jewish News, Jewish schools have faced reduced availability of kosher meals due to rising costs forcing specialist caterers to withdraw their services, with some pupils having to make do with sandwiches. The London Kosher Catering company ended its services after taking over the contract to provide about 20 Jewish schools with meals earlier this year when the previous supplier, Signature Dining, was unable to continue. Among the schools affected were Hasmo-
Sadiq Khan samples a primary school lunch
nean Primary School, Beis Yaakov Primary School, Pardes House Primary School, Menorah Primary School, Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School, Rimon Jewish Primary School, Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School and Menorah Foundation School. Miriam Kaye, headteacher at Mathilda-Marks Kennedy (MMK) Primary, said LKC was unable to provide a hot meal for less than £5.50 a child, more than £2 more than the school receives from the government. She told Jewish News: “We only receive £2.32 from the government per meal and LKC could not provide meals for less money.” Khan is now calling on the government to match his £5m promise to secure emergency free school meals funding for children in London’s state primary schools. His spokesperson told Jewish News: “The mayor is incredibly proud that he was able to step in amidst the impacts of the spiralling cost of living on families, with an emergency £135m funding plan to ensure primary school pupils in the capital receive free school meals for the next academic year, and continues to call on the government to step forward and provide the funding to make this permanent”. The spokesman added that “the additional £5m Continued on page 6
FIGHTER TO THE END Jules Konopinski, one of the last survivors of the famed anti-fascist fighters the 43 Group, has died aged 93. Having fled Nazi Germany with his mother at the age of nine, he fought fascists on the streets of London with other young men – and a few women. He recalled: ‘We did not intend to allow them ever again to rule the streets’
SHULS TOLD TO SCRAP SIDDUR THANKING ABUSER The United Synagogue has instructed its shuls to remove any old siddurim editions that contain an introductory thank you to a convicted child sex abuser, writes Joy Falk. The 1990 Singer’s Prayer Book (‘third centenary’ edition) and the subsequent enlarged and revised versions include a nod to scholar Sidney Greenbaum, who in 1990
pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault against young boys. In a message to rabbis, rebbetzens, chairs, and administrators, the United Synagogue’s chief executive, Jo Grose, said the organisation had only recently been informed of Greenbaum’s mention. The organisation had now reassured itself of the claim’s accuracy by reviewing a copy of Greenbaum’s
sentencing at Hendon Magistrates’ Court, she added. Grose urged shuls to review the siddurim on their shelves and, if the offending editions are present, to arrange for their collection or to “cross out the name of Sidney Greenbaum if you have copies which you still need”. She added: “As a convicted child sex abuser, his name has no place in our holy books.”
Novelist Naomi Alderman is on record as having said she was “groomed and abused by a paedophile, Sidney Greenbaum”, adding: “He’s been dead since 1996. It was the best thing he ever did for me, to die.” Alderman, who recently lost her mother, came into contact with the child sex predator when he worked with her academic father, Prof Geof-
frey Alderman, who – like Greenbaum – is an Orthodox Jew. Jewish News understands that some individual United Synagogue members may still have these editions on their shelves at home. Consequently, Grose intends to include the warning about Greenbaum’s name in the next edition of the organisation’s membership newsletter.